Ordinary Day
by Shadow Dragon
Summary: When two ordinary people go on one slightly less-than-ordinary date, something extraordinary will begin. They've barely noticed each other up until now, but Lily and James will be drawn into sharper awareness of life--and each other. Pre-OoTP. COMPLETE!
1. 01

AN the First: Here you! My first REAL Lily/James story!

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"Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that—that school—and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats…" Petunia Dursley, _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_.

Disclaimer: Lily and James Potter, and most affiliated characters belong to the highly esteemed JK Rowling and her enterprise of confusing names like Bloomsbury and Warner Bros. _Ordinary Day_, I am pretty sure, belongs to the wonderfully talented Vanessa Carlton. This song has been a great inspiration, but I'm not inspired enough to try and make money off of either. All in good fun, I promise.

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Ordinary Day

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By Shadow Dragon

Inspired by the song "Ordinary Day" by Vanessa Carlton

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Just today

Just an ordinary day

Just trying to get by

Just a boy

Just an ordinary boy

But he was looking to the sky

"That's an odd teacup."

Petunia Evans stood on the threshold of the guest bedroom in the Evans home, where her sister Lily took up residence during the summer holidays. It had originally been Lily's bedroom, but now that she spent ten months of the year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it had been converted into a guest bedroom. Lily only stayed at the Evans home for roughly a month of the summer, anyway. She was always off, visiting friends and whatnot.

Now, however, she was sitting at the desk, her red hair aglow in the lamplight. "Is it?" Her voice was distracted. "Uwila found it on her way back from Ara's and left it as a gift."

Crossing to the dresser with short, hesitant steps, Petunia plucked up the cup and held it up to inspect it more closely. Although it was surprisingly warm for having been sitting on Lily's dresser all day, it was painted a cool gray sort of color. Instead of a base, it seemed to have four feet, like a clawed bathtub. Petunia frowned at this. Even the handle appeared to be some sort of tail. "It reminds me of…"

"A rat?" Lily looked up from her homework for the first time. "That's what it struck me as, too. I thought I was going mad, but if you see it, too…"

Petunia bit her lip, deciding not to remind Lily that she really was going mad. Honestly, all this nonsense about magic, and parchment and quills. It was ludicrous! In secret, she wondered if Hogwarts wasn't just some elaborate scheme for Lily to drop out of school ten months of the year. Even if it _was_ a school, she didn't seem to learn anything useful, like mathematics or philosophy. Magic was not practical—it was imaginary—and Petunia liked to think of herself as a very practical person.

But her parents were willing to believe that Lily, spoiled, perfect little Lily, was a witch.

"Hmm…I wonder." Lily took the teacup from Petunia's hands, turning it over as she did so. "I think I'll have to trust Uwila's judgment on this matter." She placed the teacup onto the bed and pulled out her wand before Petunia could protest. More to herself than to Petunia, she muttered, "There's a spell to show the teacup's previous form—because even wizards don't own teacups this strange. I bet you anything that somebody Transfigured a rat."

Petunia was looking at the wand with wide eyes. This was the first time Lily had so much as shown her what it looked like. Petunia had always imagined it to be black with white tips, like all of the magicians on TV had. No, it was a simple stick with finger grips on the thicker end. Noticing Petunia's gaze, Lily cleared her throat awkwardly. "I won't do it in front of you if you mind."

"Just do the spell! Stop trying to be a diplomat!" Petunia snapped, and Lily flinched.

"All right, then." She flicked the wand expertly and muttered something Petunia couldn't quite make out. The teacup spun around and kept spinning until it stopped as a rat. It was pudgy and light-gray and blinked at the pair rather dazedly. Petunia shrieked, but Lily just scooped the rat up and brought it closer to her face to inspect it. "Yes, blue eyes," she mused to herself. "I wonder what Sirius has been getting up to now." She sighed and dropped the rat into one of the dresser drawers. To Petunia, she explained, "The rat belongs to a year-mate of mine. Sirius Black is always doing something to it, so I'll just hold it here until Uwila comes back."

Petunia stared at the desk drawer, wondering if the rat was going to chew through the corner and bite them in their sleep.

Lily flicked her red hair out of her eyes. Her fringe was slowly starting to grow out and was always in her eyes, it seemed. "What were you wanting to tell me, 'Tunia? You don't come into my room for no reason at all anymore."

Petunia blinked at Lily's observation. Why _had_ she come into Lily's room, anyway? She'd been so distracted by the teacup/rat… "Oh," she said, remembering. "You're to wear nice clothing when we go out with Vernon's parents tonight. _Normal _clothing."

Instead of complaining about Petunia's use of the word "normal," as she would have done in summers previous, Lily just nodded. "That's fair, I guess." She paused, obviously trying to remember something as well. "And can I call Mr. Dursley Vernon now, since there will be two Mr. Dursleys there?" She crossed to the closet and started rummaging though the outfits in there. Most of them were her school robes, but Mrs. Evans had taken it upon herself to get Lily some nicer clothing for outings and such. Lily was too short to take Petunia's castoffs anymore.

"I suppose," Petunia said in a strained voice. She was only four years Lily's senior, but she had always insisted that Lily call Vernon Mr. Dursley. To her surprise, Lily had just rolled her eyes and agreed to do whatever Petunia wished. When had bratty Lily become such a pushover? All summer, Petunia had been ordering her around for the mere fun of it. "His sister Marge will be there, as well, and she'll have a date."

Because Lily's back was to her, Petunia did not see Lily's eyes dull over with defeat. She had no idea of the war that was going on between Lily and her boyfriend's sister. When the redhead turned back around, holding her choice of outfits, her face was a carefully composed mask. "That's nice. How's this?" She held up a simple black dinner dress for Petunia to approve. "Will this do?"

Petunia eyed the garment. Her own dress was dark blue, and quite a bit more elegant, so they would not match. Petunia hated it when their mother bought them matching clothes. "That's fine. Please be downstairs at six." She started to turn to leave, but Lily touched her arm, eyes clouding as Petunia instinctively recoiled.

"Look, 'Tunia, I know you didn't want me to come to this. If it's any consolation, I'd rather let you have Mum and Daddy all to yourself. Perhaps I could invite one of my friends as a date to help keep out of the way? It would be easier on you."

At first, Petunia was sorely tempted to agree. Getting Lily out of the way would have made her evening much easier, but then she remembered that Lily's friends were all—_like_ her. Petunia had met them, and they couldn't stop going on and on in amazement about 'Muggles' or whatever the term was. They were loud, arrogant, bratty little annoyances. They would give the secret away in the first minute, and then Vernon would storm out. Vernon was a very practical person, like Petunia. He didn't need to know about Lily and her freakishness. "No," she said shortly. "I don't think that's wise. Just keep your mouth shut and don't talk about your abnormality." She turned to leave, and missed Lily's crestfallen expression. "And be downstairs at six."

*

It was late afternoon when James Potter finally sighed and crawled out of the rosebushes of number nine, Magnolia Crescent, very careful not to muss up the suit he was wearing. The owl that had taken Peter—in teacup form—had flown into number eight, Magnolia Crescent, and he and the remaining Marauders had been keeping a stakeout on the window ever since. The light had come on, for it was cloudy outside, but other than that, they saw no sign of the Muggle-born wizard or witch that lived there. "I don't understand why we can't just go knock on the front door and ask for our teacup back," he grumbled to his companions.

Sirius Black crawled out as well, followed shortly by Remus Lupin. All three were clad in Muggle suits, for they had taken the Muggle Underground to get to the Ministry that morning. Sirius's father had invited the group to take a tour of the Ministry, and that required nice clothing. Nice, Muggle clothing, nonetheless.

"Because it's against Marauder code," Sirius replied immediately. "Going up there to ask for our friend back would be admitting defeat."

"Defeat to _what_?" Remus demanded, pushing both hands through his shaggy hair. The Marauders all had shaggy hair (except Peter, who styled his that way to fit in) and light eyes. James and Sirius had often been confused as brothers, but Remus's coloring was too light for that. Peter was as blond as they came, with the same blue eyes as Sirius and James. "Peter's a _teacup_, Sirius. Really, it's not that big of a deal to say that the owl stole our teacup."

"Who keeps a rat shaped teacup? Anybody's going to know that's a rat!" Sirius protested, pointing up at the window and, by default, at Peter. "And if the witch or wizard is old enough, they'll know the spell to change Peter back to a rat! Then what? Peter panics, that's what! You know how he is when he gets that way—he'll turn human right away, I wouldn't doubt!"

"So we just leave a Marauder in hot water alone?" James asked, standing and stretching. He moved onto the sidewalk so that the members of number eight would not see him on their lawn.

Remus followed him, brushing off the knees of his dark brown suit. "No," Sirius said, coming last. "We wait until whoever it is leaves the house, fly up to the window, _Alohamora_ it, and grab Peter. Nobody knows we're there, and we can get Peter back before they Transfigure him."

Instead of commenting on Sirius's obviously-futile plan, James pulled a pocket watch from his suit vest and looked at it for a long moment before asking, "And what time are you supposed to be home again, Sirius?"

"Six-fifteen. Remus and I both," Sirius replied promptly, pulling on his suit jacket. He kept the sleeves of his nice shirt rolled up to his elbows, however. "Why?"

"Because it's five-thirty, and your house is nearly an hour away on broomstick." James held back a laugh at Sirius's and Remus's panicked expressions. "Look, tell you what. I'll just go up there and get Peter back, and you two head on home. I'll make up some story or something." Knowing that it would take Remus and Sirius awhile to get high enough for cloud cover, he laughed and said, "Hurry up!"

Both Remus and Sirius sprinted off to where they had hidden their brooms in the back of James's car. James walked off in the opposite direction, up the front path of number nine, Magnolia Crescent. Nervously, he patted down his hair and took his time surveying the house. It was obvious that this house belonged to Muggles—Muggles who liked to garden. James had to walk through a little gate and along a garden path, which was bordered by roses and other blooms of all kinds, before he could take the steps up to the patio. The siding on the house was white, the shutters were light blue. The door was cranberry-red and a had a flower-shaped knocker, much to James's amusement.

_Whoever lives here must _really_ like flowers,_ James mused to himself, and rang the doorbell.

A woman with bright red hair answered the door, smiling a bit oddly at the sight of James in his nice suit, standing on their patio. "Can I help you?" she asked, eyebrows raised. She must have thought he was a door-to-door salesman.

James cleared his throat nervously. "This is going to sound very strange, but can I talk to the wizard or witch that lives in this house? Their owl, ah, collected something that belonged to me, and I need to get it back."

For a moment, he was worried that the Marauders had been watching the wrong house, after all, because the woman looked a bit puzzled. "Oh!" she said suddenly. "You mean Uwila!" Her eyes widened incredulously, confirming James's suspicions of her being a Muggle. "You must be a wizard! Are you at Hogwarts, too?" She opened the screen door and waved James in. "Come in, come in. I'll go fetch my daughter for you."

His fancy shoes clicking oddly, James stepped into a genuinely Muggle home for the first time. It was just a regular entrance hall, really, with a watercolor of tulips on one wall, and a chest of drawers on the opposite wall. "Thank you," he said awkwardly. "And yes, I attend Hogwarts. My name's James Potter."

The woman opened her mouth to answer, but at just that moment, there was a call. "Mum? Can you help me out with this?"

"One moment, dear." Turning back to James, the woman smiled and promised, "I'll just send her down."

So James was left alone in the entrance hall. It occurred to him then, and only then, that he knew neither the name of the witch, nor her mother. On top of that, he hadn't even thought to check the mailbox during the stakeout. Not sure of whether or not he should leave the entrance hall and venture further into the house, James chose to remain where he was, fidgeting nervously. He caught sight of his image in the mirror and pushed his hair down reflexively. It just sprang straight back up.

"Who's that?" the voice from earlier asked. James pretended to be interested in the vase of roses sitting atop the chest so that they would not know he was eavesdropping. Really, they couldn't see him, for the entrance hall was cut off from the rest of the house. He could only see a wall straight ahead, with two openings on either side that led into the actual house.

"A wizard from Lily's school to see her." The voices were getting further away. "Oh, Petunia, is that what you're wearing tonight? It looks _fabulous_!"

James froze. Had the woman just said Lily? As in Lily the Perfect Prefect? James frowned uneasily. The Marauders had nothing against Lily as a person—they didn't know her well enough for that—but she _was _a prefect. She never hesitated to take points off of Gryffindor, and she wasn't too fond of Sirius. James suspected that this probably had to do with the fact that he had locked her in a closet for four hours back in third year. It had been a prank to play on Snape, but instead, they had found out the hard way that Lily was incredibly claustrophobic.

Petunia and Mrs. Evans—that had to be her name, for there were no other Muggle-born people at Hogwarts named Lily, who also owned an owl named Uwila—were still talking. "One of her friends? As in, one of _them_?" Petunia's voice was slightly shrill. James bristled at her tone.

Mrs. Evans, however, had other things to say on the matter. "Shush, dear. And keep your comments about Lily and her world to yourself from now on. She's trying hard not to be so obvious about it."

James decided that whoever this Petunia was, he did not like her at all. She reminded him of some of the purists at Hogwarts, who were always going on about pure blood and wizarding lines. Blood didn't really have anything to do with it; Muggle-born witches and wizards were just as powerful as the wizard-born. And even the longest of wizarding lines could have a Squib. All one had to do to prove that was to look at James's family. The Potters had been wizards for nearly a thousand years, and his younger sister was had no magical powers.

So deep was James in his musings that he did not hear the light slapping of bare feet on the hardwood floor. Only the soft call of, "Mum, are you in here?" alerted him to Lily's impending arrival.

He had shared a common room with her for roughly six years, give or take a few months. Naturally, he'd seen her in everything from nightgowns to regular Muggle clothing. Granted, he was rather used to seeing her in the heavy Hogwarts robes, so his reaction was somewhat akin to shock when she walked in—wearing what had to be the most immodest dress he had ever seen. James's mouth dropped open before he managed, "_Lily_?" The gentlemanly instincts in him were screaming for him to keep his eyes on her face. This was _Lily Evans_, the perfect Prefect. It was not right for prankster James Potter to look at her in such a manner. James snapped his mouth shut so hard that his jaw hurt.

Lily's head was tilted to the side, and her hands were at her ear, working an earring into her earlobe. Her hair—such a strange shade of red—was swept up into an elegant clip at the nape of her neck. The fact that her dress was black only seemed to make the dusting of brown freckles across her nose and her hair stand out. Right now, her green eyes were wide, a bit shocked to see him. She recovered quickly, her eyes narrowing into the green slits he was more accustomed to. "Yes, it's really me. And you're James. Now, stop gaping like you've never seen me before and tell me why you're standing in my entrance hall."

James's face flushed and he tore his eyes off of her. "Sorry, I'm just not used to see you look so…" He stumbled around for a word and finally managed, "Pretty." He was pretty sure his face matched her hair. Everything he had learned since first-year had somehow flown from his head, and he was having trouble managing speech.

Lily's looked darkened until she reminded James of a red-headed Professor McGonagall. The other Marauders had started to call this her "prefecting" look. ("She's getting ready to take points," Sirius would always hiss. "Run!") That look alone made it a lot easier to accomplish speech. "Anyway, sorry about that. I was shocked, that's all." He shook his head, unconsciously sending the hair that he had pushed down back to its normal position. "Did your owl pick up anything interesting this morning? Like a teacup, perhaps?"

"You mean Peter's rat? Yeah, he's up in my room."

James dropped the rose he had been playing with and scrambled to pick it up. If Peter had been in Lily's room all day, who knew what he could have seen? James felt slightly green at the thought, but decided to spare them all some trouble by not asking Lily if she had changed in there. He really did not want to think of an excuse to tell her when she wanted to know why he needed to know such a thing.

Instead, he forced a smile. "Oh, you changed him back? Great! I need to collect him. I'm, uh, watching him for Peter while he's in Majorca." His smile was almost sincerely innocent now.

Lily had known the Marauders, specifically James, too long to let him get away with just that. "Fancy telling me why he was a teacup in the first place? Or is that just Sirius's joke to play on poor Peter?"

She had never been more right, but more wrong at the same time. "Yes, actually. Little Pete's been through a lot with Sirius—I'm just glad he decided to settle with a nice, tame teacup." James's eyes started to wander again, so he wrenched his gaze away and stared hard at the tulips. "Er, could you—"

"Lily?" Mrs. Evans bustled into the room. "There you are—oh, I see you've met James!"

James wondered why he hadn't seen it before: Lily looked just like a younger version of her mum! Their hair was exactly the same color (granted, Mrs. Evans did have a few gray streaks), and they had the same facial shape. However, Lily had obviously got her eyes from her father, for Mrs. Evans had blue eyes. The witch was also a couple inches taller than Mrs. Evans, but not much.

A man that James could only assume to be Mr. Evans followed her in without saying a word. He gave James the evil eye, green like suspected, and James gulped. Mr. Evans, while about the same height as James himself, just seemed to tower over the wizard. James had never been more terrified of a Muggle, and he wasn't even dating Lily.

"James and I are in the same class, Mum," Lily told Mrs. Evans, and James could see that she was trying not to roll her eyes. "We've met." She didn't sound exactly thrilled by this because with James came Sirius, and with Sirius came trouble. There were probably still dozens of pranks she had yet to forgive the Marauders for.

James managed a hesitant smile, hoping that the Evanses couldn't read minds. He certainly didn't want them to know what he had just been thinking about their daughter only seconds earlier. "Pleased to meet you. I'm James Potter," he told Mr. Evans.

"Simon Evans. You've met my wife Rose." James shook Mr. Evans's hand first, then the hand of Mrs. Evans, callused from gardening. He mentally shook his head at the names; Rose, Petunia, and Lily. Did they have a sister named Violet? "What brings you here, James?"

"Uwila picked up his friend's rat on accident," Lily told her parents. Even to James, a full-blooded wizard, it sounded absurd. Mr. and Mrs. Evans eyed the pair uncertainly, and James found himself the target for yet another evil eye. "I was just going to fetch Little Pete for him."

"Oh, dear, what's the rush?" When Lily's eyes flew open wide, James knew her mother was up to something. Indeed, Mrs. Evans turned and smiled at James. "Why don't you stay for tea? Lily hasn't had a chance to visit with any of her Hogwarts friends this summer—I'm sure having another witch around will be nice." Rose Evans gave her daughter a big smile while James hastened to correct them that only women were witches, men were wizards. He was immediately whisked off into some kind of waiting room with stiff white couches and wicker chairs before he knew it, and the elder Evanses hurried off to the kitchen to collect things for tea.

"That was interesting," Lily commented, wrinkling her nose. "Mum's usually so strange about guests—whenever I've had male friends over, she's always beaten them away with a stick. She must really have taken to you to let a perfect stranger drink tea while sitting on her eggshell-colored couch."

"'Eggshell?'" James asked, wrinkling his nose as Lily had done moments earlier. He hadn't left any grass stains on the cushions, much to his relief. "It looks 'white' to me."

When Lily giggled, it occurred to James that he had never heard her laugh before. Oh, he knew that she laughed—she was too human not to—but he had just never really paid attention to it. Laughter could tell a lot about a person, he decided. Lily's was rather quiet, but it almost _bubbled_, like a brook would. She ended all too quickly. "Still the ever-perceptive James Potter, I see." She muffled another giggle as James pretended to send her an indignant look. "Anyway, it _does_ look 'white.' Don't tell Mum that, though. I don't fancy trying to remember the charm against heart-attacks."

Conversation died then, as it is known to do in incredibly awkward moments. James cleared his throat, listening to the sounds of tea being prepared in the next room over. "So do you always wear things like that around the house?" he asked, nodding at Lily's dress. "Because if you do, I think I'll be dropping in more often."

To his surprise, Lily flushed. Still, the look that she sent him was her normal no-nonsense look. Warning bells took flight, only instants before the green eyes turned accusatory. "Flattery? Arriving unexpectedly on my doorstep? Wearing a _Muggle_ suit? Turning Peter's pet rat into a teacup?" Green eyes narrowed dangerously. "Something's up. What are you and your little band planning now? And Peter's not in Majorca, because I owled him just last night with some Potions help."

It was really no question who was going to be Head Girl—it never really had been. Lily had had that position bagged since the first time she picked up a quill in Hogwarts, but James was slowly starting to see _why_. The green eyes were like a cat's, he realized in one corner of his mind as he tried to work up a plausible excuse. They were also the most perceptive things he had ever come across. In the severity of that gaze, he finally decided to tell the truth.

"Honestly, we're not planning anything against you. Sirius's dad took us on a tour of the Ministry this morning, so we had to dress nicely. But we had to dress nicely for Muggles, because there's no floo access at Mr. Black's office." James paused. "Er—about the rat…Well, after we'd had our time at the Ministry, Sirius decided that it would be fun to turn Peter's rat into a teacup." James shrugged helplessly, well-aware that Lily's gaze was still suspicious. "Where your owl picked him up. So basically, the three of us have spent the afternoon in your neighbor's rose bushes, trying to figure out how to get Little Pete back. It appears that all we needed to do was knock on your door, but Sirius was against that something fierce."

By the end of his story, James was quite a bashful shade of red. Lily, however, was coughing into her hand, probably trying to hide her laughter discreetly. "Oh, go ahead and laugh." And Lily did, her laughter bubbling again. "And that, Miss Evans, is why I am sitting on your living room couch, flattering you. You avoided my question—why are _you _dressed up?"

Caught up in the mirth of James's situation, Lily did not reply at first. Finally, she scowled (a look that James did not like to see on her face at all) and said, "My older sister and her boyfriend are taking the family out to a nice dinner. So of course, I have to dress _normally_." A note of bitterness slid into her voice before she shot James a perverse look. "And you're not helping things. If you don't stop ogling me, I'm going to hex you."

Immediately turning puce, James moved his eyes to the coffee table in front of him. "Well, I'm about as subtle as a purple llama," he remarked self-disparagingly. "Sorry about that—I guess it's shock. I mean, I'm used to seeing you in Hogwarts robes. Do you realize how bulky those things are?" He chanced a look at Lily, and saw that she was shaking her head in amusement. Normally, she would probably have slapped him on the arm. "And that thing—does your mother know you're wearing that?"

Lily looked down at her dress rather defensively. "What? There's nothing wrong with it!"

Before James could beg to differ, both of the Evanses came into the living room, Mrs. Evans bearing a tray with tea supplies and biscuits. James's eyes landed on these rather hungrily; because of the stakeout, he had not really had the chance to eat lunch. A couple of bites of the burger they'd shared on the Underground were the only things he'd managed to toss down his throat all day.

"So you're in the same year as Lily?" Simon Evans asked with some interest as he took a spot on the wicker chair across from Lily. Lily obligingly moved onto the couch next to James as another girl, one that looked strikingly like a longer, bonier Lily with blonde hair and blue eyes, entered. She shot James a guarded look as she sat down in the spot Lily had just vacated.

"Yes. We're in the same House, as well." James shifted awkwardly and thanked Mrs. Evans when she handed him a cup of tea. Just looking at the cup made him think of poor Peter, trapped up in Lily's room. "I'm still trying to figure out how I didn't recognize her owl—it's very distinctive."

This earned him a shrug from Lily. "Uwila was even more distinctive when Sirius turned her pink in third year," she told her parents, and James coughed discreetly into his hand. "Sirius is James's best friend."

Simon Evans looked interested now. "You can turn owls pink?" he asked.

"Apparently. We were actually trying to turn her blue, but Sirius's pronunciation leaves something to be desired. As it was, he turned my own owl green. I deserved it—I hit his toad with a tap-dancing jinx. Poor Michigan J—he hasn't been the same since."

The blonde girl—Petunia—was now staring at James with something very similar to dislike. James just gave her his best sunny smile and sipped his tea while he waited for Mr. and Mrs. Evans to digest the information.

"So, is your owl still green?" Lily asked, one eyebrow raised. Sirius had turned Uwila pink because Lily had beaten him on the Transfiguration exam, hoping to make Lily angry. She had only laughed and said that Uwila did look rather "cutesy" when pink—and that she had matched the holiday season (the prank was performed on February 13th) very well. 

"Why, green is a very fetching shade for Herkemer." Petunia coughed into her hand, probably hiding a sigh of exasperation. "I think everybody is so accustomed to his coloring that it would be quite a shock to see him as a snowy owl again," James told the Evanses earnestly.

"You _can _change him back, though, can't you?" Mrs. Evans asked James worriedly, as though being green was a form of disease.

Beside him, Lily let out a very unladylike snort, earning a reproving look from her mother. "I'd be worried if he didn't know the counter-curse, Mum," she said. "James is Head Boy—and with good reason. We're tied in every class but Transfiguration and Charms."

Lily's words raised James a notch higher in the respect of her parents, James saw quickly. They also made Petunia look at him with genuine dislike now. "Well, actually, Remus is beating us both in Defense Against the Dark Arts," James pointed out modestly. "But the rest of it is true. I'm rather hopeless at Charms, and Lily happens to be quite the genius with them. She can't Transfigure anything for the life of her, though. Remember that time you tried to Transfigure your desk into—what was it?"

Much to James's delight, Lily had gone red again. It was then decided in James's mind that everybody should at least associate with a redhead, for it was always amusing to watch Lily blush. "It was supposed to be a sofa," she muttered, not looking up from her teacup.

Turning to Lily's parents, James contained his laughter long enough to say, "I don't know how she did it, but the rest of us got something furniture-like. Lily managed to Transfigure her desk into an honest-to-goodness aardvark. It was very complex Transfiguration, but a total accident."

As Mr. and Mrs. Evans exploded into laughter, James shot Lily a sideways grin. She stuck her tongue out at him and sipped her tea, pretending to be deaf to the happenings all around her. Petunia sniffed at them, but none of them really paid any attention to her.

"You're not going to tell them every mistake I've made at Hogwarts, are you?" Lily asked, her voice only half-joking. She grinned devilishly, making James once again glad that nobody could read his mind. "I've got some dirt on you. Remember that time in fifth year…"

James clapped both hands over his ears and sing-songed, "I'm not listening!"

"What an idiot," Petunia muttered under her breath.

Mrs. Evans smiled beseechingly at her eldest daughter and turned to Lily. "I'm very curious now. What about that time in fifth year?"

_Somehow, I don't think I'm going to escape this with my dignity intact_, James thought to himself, but he leaned back and let Lily tell the story anyway.

All was fair in…well, all was fair, either way.

*

In the time it took to have tea, James had drained two cups and had devoured too many biscuits to count. He and Lily had been telling her parents all about the different classes at Hogwarts; Lily kept surprising her around every turn, first showing a sense of humor, and then using that sense of humor to giggle at some of the pranks he and his friends had pulled in their prime.

Mr. Evans was in the middle of recounting a story from his own school days when the doorbell rang. "Get the door, Lily," Petunia said in an off-hand voice, waving for her father to continue on with his story. Wordlessly, Lily stood up and walked out of the room. James watched her walk away for a moment before he politely excused himself and followed her. He did not notice Mr. Evans's suspicious glance when he left, or the slight smile that Mrs. Evans sent after them.

He caught up with Lily just after she had opened the door and smiled rather hesitantly as she signed for a package. The postman handed her a parcel and tossed a wink at James. When Lily shut the door, James grabbed her arm and turned her to face him without realizing what he was doing. She jumped visibly at the contact. "What was that?"

Lily gave him a confused look and shook her arm out of his grip. "What was what?"

James nodded in the direction of the family room. "That. In there. She's been pushing you around the whole time I've been here, and I haven't seen you say anything once."

Having known Lily for six years, he'd been expecting an argument. He had invoked her temper enough to justify this. However, all he got was a dull shrug. "It's just one more month, isn't it?" she asked in a flat, defeated tone. "Either way, you don't understand. I don't want to upset my sister—"

James knew that he was overreacting. Petunia had only demanded little things, really, like for Lily to hand her another biscuit, or to fill her cup. Telling Lily to answer the door had been the biggest thing. However, the dead look in Lily's normally inquisitive eyes told him that there was something else going on. "She hates our kind," he interrupted. "How long has she been treating you this way? When your parents aren't looking, I mean."

For a moment, he saw something flicker in Lily's eyes, but her face just hardened in response. "Just leave it," she whispered. "You don't know anything." She pushed her way past James, who felt that he had failed somehow. As she was about to turn into the hallway leading into the living room, she paused. There was dismissal evident in every one of her features. "It was nice seeing you again. I'll go fetch Little Pete." As quick as a pixie, she darted into the living room. James heard her telling her parents about the package, and he saw just a flash of red as she started up the stairs.

James was about to head into the living room to bid his farewells and gratitude to the rest of the Evanses, but the doorbell rang once again. "Er, Lily?"

__

And as he asked if I would come along

I started to realize 

That everyday he finds

Just what he's looking for

And like a shooting star

He shines

To be continued…

AN the Second: I was really going to wait until I had the third (and final, I hope) chapter done before posting this, but ExtraPenny, as I know her (or him), put in a request on behalf of my readers. So here you go. The first installment of my rather odd Lily/James story, _Ordinary Day_. If you want _good_ L/J, read "How the Other Half Lives" by Rilina. Spanking good stuff right there.


	2. 02

A/N: Chapter Two's just been sitting on my Hard Drive, and I thought, 'Hey, updating today would be fun!' …So here, you go. Yeah, this is the pointless filler chapter. Chapters three and four have lots of fun L/J interaction. Not love/hate by long shot, though.

Disclaimer: Lily and James Potter, and most affiliated characters belong to the highly esteemed JK Rowling and her enterprise of confusing names like Bloomsbury and Warner Bros. _Ordinary Day_, I am pretty sure, belongs to the wonderfully talented Vanessa Carlton. This song has been a great inspiration, but I'm not inspired enough to try and make money off of either. All in good fun, I promise.

Ordinary Day 02

****

By Shadow Dragon

Inspired by "Ordinary Day" by Vanessa Carlton

__

And he said

Take my hand

Live while you can

Don't you see your dream lie

Right in the palm of your hand

Vernon Dursley pulled his father's company car into the driveway of number eight, Magnolia Crescent. The radio was playing a quite popular tune, and Vernon had been humming that tune for quite some time. It was a perfectly ordinary thing to do when one liked a song. He never screamed along with the lyrics, like those hoodlums they always saw along the street corners. He was a very prim and proper sort of man—he and his sister were society's finest, Vernon liked to think. Tonight, they looked it, for Vernon was wearing a suit jacket, and Marge was wearing a green cocktail dress that looked quite lovely on her.

Marge's date, a respectable young man with the same proper air that Vernon, pulled his elegant automobile into the driveway behind Vernon. His name was Eustace Timms, and he was an old classmate of Vernon's from Smeltings. He got out of the car as Vernon locked his own parking brake into place, and opened Marge's door, offering his arm to her. "This is where your fiancée lives, Vernon?" he called, looking at the house with disinterest.

"Shhhh!" Vernon and Marge both told him. "The Evanses don't know yet," Vernon explained, glaring at Eustace as though he were a dimwit. He did not realise that to everybody but the Dursleys, Eustace truly was. "That's _why_ we're taking them out to dinner tonight."

Eustace nodded and allowed Vernon to lead the way up the front walk. "I shall remember to be more discreet," he promised in an empty voice. He was wearing his nicest suit, like Vernon had instructed him to, and had not said a word about the moustache Marge was starting to grow. All of the other young men Vernon had set Marge up with had had something to say about Marge's facial hair problem. Eustace was too refined a young man to mention it.

Holding the flowers he had picked out earlier behind his back, Vernon hummed under his breath again and rang the doorbell. His incredibly high spirits dropped like a vase in the hands of a half-wit, however, when the door was opened by not Petunia, but her younger sister. Still ever-polite, he said, "Hello, Daisy."

There was a young man standing directly behind her. Although taller than Vernon, he had a bit of a runty look about him as well. Vernon heard Marge sniff in disapproval and found that he was quite inclined to agree. Couldn't that young man do anything with his hair? "Hello. I'm Vernon Dursley," Vernon said, eyeing him rather mistrustfully.

"James Potter," replied the other young man in a pleasant voice. He shook Vernon's hand and placed his own on the girl's shoulder. Vernon was not blind to the fact that she jumped. He glared at this Potter fellow; he may not like his fiancée's younger sister, but he was not going to stand for any funny business on the part of this James Potter character. Hadn't he ever heard of a comb? "I'm sorry, but perhaps you haven't met my friend Lily Evans? I believe I heard you call her Daisy earlier."

The girl—Lily—gave Potter a look. "It's perfectly all right, James. Mr. Dursley forgets my name all of the time." She simpered to Eustace and Marge. "Hello, Miss Dursley, perfectly lovely to see you again. And you must be Eustace—Petunia's told me all about you. Come in. Petunia's in the parlour with my parents."

He had never seen the youngest Evans look scrawnier and paler than she did then. Vernon sniffed at her attire, but led the way to the living room for Marge and Eustace. It did not matter that neither of the couple that answered the door followed them in. He had eyes only for his Petunia, who looked ravishing in her own dark blue dress. She rose with a squeal of delight, and gave him a kiss on the cheek when he entered, and he shook hands with Petunia's parents. They were decent sort of folk—a bit off in the head occasionally—but his Petunia had turned out all right even in such a strange atmosphere.

"Oh, Vernon, won't stay and have a bit of tea with us?" Mrs. Evans asked, clearing away two teacups and pulling three more from the tray. "We're all quite a bit early for our reservations. Tell me, do you mind if Lily brings a date…?"

Although Vernon could tell that Petunia did not like the Potter character any more than he did, he agreed—rather warmly, if he did say so himself. They were just there that evening to make Petunia's odd parents happy. Besides, Vernon told himself as he took a cup of tea, it wasn't as though he would have to deal with that Potter or any of his tricks after tonight.

*

Wordlessly, James followed Lily up a set of staircases, having no desire to spend any more time around Vernon Dursley and his little ragtag crew. "Who _was_ that?" he demanded as soon as they were out of hearing distance. "Those had to be some of the foulest people I have ever met—and did you _see _that Eustace fellow?" He shuddered. "I'd much rather watch Snape try to look down your shirt, thank you very much!" He sounded positively ill. 

Despite herself, Lily let out a little giggle. Eustace had tried, not very subtly, to look down her dress as he had passed, but James had prevented that from happening by grabbing Eustace's hand in a rather forceful handshake. Lily was positive that Eustace's hand would be paining him for days. 

"This coming from the fellow who was ogling me earlier," Lily reminded him as she led him down the corridor to her old bedroom.

In the past, James would have stuttered or flushed, but he caught the jesting note in Lily's voice—besides, it was true. He let it off with a simple shrug, and followed her through a door with a sign reading, "Lily's bedroom." It was done in crayon and sported childish handwriting.

He had been in girls' bedrooms before—he had two sisters, after all—but never had he seen one with so little personality as Lily's. The bedspread was dark green, and folded back to reveal white sheets underneath. A large painting of irises was visible above the headboard. There was no other decoration in the room, unless one counted a vase of fake roses on the wardrobe, or the Hogwarts trunk in the corner. Next to the trunk was a desk, or at least James thought it was a desk. It was hard to tell, for parchment and spell books covered the surface and made it appear like a mountain of paperwork.

"Uwila! You're back!" Lily said, her voice the happiest James had heard yet. No longer pink, Uwila was a great horned owl, an American breed. Lily never disclosed on how she got Uwila, but others liked to speculate. Sirius's favourite theory involved a bit of string, a ticket on a drowned cruise ship, and some hairpins. The others had never really bothered to enquire about that particular theory…

James only laughed when the owl shot him a yellow-eyed glare from the bedpost. "She still remembers third-year, I see," he remarked, and offered a bit of biscuit he'd taken up with him as a peace offering. She eyed him suspiciously, but eventually took the gift. "She probably still thinks I'm going to turn her pink. I'm telling you, Uwila, it was Sirius the entire time."

Uwila hopped onto Lily's shoulder and cheeped once at James, rather possessively. Not perturbed by her owl's presence in the least, Lily sat down on the bed and sighed. Even relaxed, her posture was perfect. Eyes not leaving her, James crossed to the desk and took his perch in the chair. "I really don't want to go to this dinner. And to think, I'll get to deal with Marge and Eustace all evening." She shivered, and Uwila let out a questioning note. Lily just reached up and stroked her between the two tufts of feathers that stuck up like horns.

James wrenched his eyes away from her Arithmancy essay to say, "Forget Muggle—are they even _human_?"

Lily's answer to this was a shrug. "Maybe. I'm not really sure anymore. I mean, I've met The Beast before, and she's absolutely hideous. At least Vernon's content to ignore me—"

"And forget your name."

"—But _she's_ always going on and on (whenever my parents aren't there, of course) about how I was no match to 'Tunia's beauty. Even The Beast and her brother suspect something about me, I imagine. The Beast's called me a freak a few times…" She sighed and rubbed at her forehead, suddenly looking years older than seventeen. "I go back to Hogwarts and have to deal with Voldemort and the pure-blooded bigots, and I come home to people like Petunia and that horrible Beast." 

James snorted under his breath; "Beast" seemed like a good name for that awful Marge creature. Honestly, she looked like a whale in that horrible green cocktail dress; and had the light been playing tricks on him, or had she really had a moustache?

"You can stand up to them, you know," James reminded her. "Don't let people push you down like that. It's demeaning."

Lily gave a bitter laugh. "And it's James Potter to stand up for the little people, once again." She shrugged and seemed to withdraw into herself for the briefest of moments. James blinked, and she was perfectly fine again. It was like watching Sirius change from human to dog—split second, and completely pivotal without changing at all. "Sorry about that—I have my moments. I don't mean anything by them."

Just as James opened to his mouth to reply, Mrs. Evans called up the stairs, "Children!" At this, both winced; they were seventeen, after all. "It's almost time to leave! Get your shoes on, Lily—and don't forget your wrap! It's cool outside tonight!"

James was pretty sure he heard Lily mutter something along the lines of, "I'm seventeen, not eleven. I _know_." She gave James a strained smile as she passed Uwila onto his arm. "Could you hold onto her for me? Thanks."

As Lily pulled on a pair of black sandals, James looked the room over again. "Where's Little Pete?" he asked, seeing no rat cages anywhere. Maybe Peter hadn't had an open view of Lily changing after all. She had probably shut him a drawer or something, knowing her.

Indeed, Lily confirmed his suspicions and crossed to the wardrobe. After a minute of rummaging around in what James hoped wasn't a lingerie drawer, she said, "Hmm. That's odd. He's disappeared."

James's eyes landed on the window, which had been left open for Uwila. "I imagine he went out the window," he mused. "Little Pete's a smart rat—he'll find his way home." He looked outside, and could see his car down on the street. He'd used it to follow Uwila earlier, because they couldn't keep high enough on broomsticks to avoid Muggle sight. "Well, I'd better go give my farewells and thank-yous, then," he said. "Thanks for taking care of Little Pete, even if he is a little sneak."

Lily was carefully draping a shawl around her shoulders. "Try not to leave your teacups lying about from now on, will you?" she asked, her mouth twisting up into a smile. James blinked. Had her face always lit up like that? Carefully, he placed Uwila in a cage and Lily put a finger to her lips, and then pointed at the open window. James, grinning, shook his head as she purposely left the cage unlocked and followed him out of the room.

When James walked into the living room, Petunia's frown alone told him that something had happened to annoy her. Hiding his dislike, he proceeded to smile congenially at her. Her glare, coupled by Vernon's, only made his smile much sweeter. "I just wanted to drop in and thank you for the tea," he told the Evans couple, his smile becoming genuine now. "Lily took good care of my friend's pet rat, so I should be heading off now." He held his hand out to Mr. Evans. "It was good meeting you, sir."

"What?" Mr. Evans asked, looking at the hand. Feeling somewhat foolish, James pulled it back to his side. "You're not coming with us?"

So _that_ was what Petunia had been so displeased about!

"I didn't know I was invited," James managed. He glanced at Lily, but her eyes were wide. She had obviously not been aware of the plans, either, for her brow was furrowed. "I really don't think I should intrude on such an occasion—"

But Mrs. Evans waved his protest with a clucking noise so similar to Madam Pomfrey's that James nearly stared. He felt Lily chuckle beside him. "Nonsense! Lily's the only person going tonight without a date, and you're such a nice boy. Can't you two keep yourselves occupied with school things and the like? Would that be all right with your parents, James?"

James glanced at Lily to see her opinion of the matter, but her arched eyebrow told him that it was entirely up to him. He could leave Lily stranded with her parents and a bunch of ignorant Muggles, or he could play the suave, dashing hero, swooping in at the last moment to rescue her. When weighing the options in his mind, James didn't really have to put much thought into it at all. He was, after all, a normal teenager. "Where's your telephone?"

Although Lily looked surprised, she led him to a small telephone table in the room the kitchen. He dialled his home phone number without answering her silent questions. The small "Hello?" on the other side of the line could be none other than his twelve-year-old sister. 

"Hey, Carrie! Is Mum or Dad home?"

"_James_? Since when do you know how to use a telephone?"

"Since right now. Get Mum or Dad."

The youngest of the three Potter children, Carrie was a witch, but she was better at playing the part of the Muggle younger sister than James was at playing anything Muggle. James, with his rather conspicuous lot of friends, pretended to be ignorant to Muggle ways when he was at home, much to the continued aggravation of his younger sisters. Of course, he secretly knew how to work everything, but bothering both Maddie and Carrie Potter just seemed to be part of the Guidebook for Being James Potter.

Before long, a very confused Daniel Potter came onto the extension, sounding a bit tired from a long day of work. "James?" He sounded quite puzzled that James actually knew how to work a telephone, and James rolled his eyes. Most of the population tended to underestimate James Potter, which was unsettling at its best.

"Er, yeah, it's me. Hi, Dad." James paused. "Listen, funny story. You know how Sirius turned Peter into a teacup, and how we had to follow the owl that stole him? You got our note, didn't you?"

"I'm still not quite sure I believe that story, James." Daniel Potter was generally a sort of trusting man, but some of the yarns James had spun for him still had him yet to be convinced. Daniel, Rhonda, Maddie, and Carrie had all turned out to be sensible, intelligent people, but James really did have a creative class of his own. "But, either way, do continue."

Lily had left the kitchen to him, probably off to converse with her mother. James frowned at the empty doorway. "Well, the owl that picked Peter up belonged to Lily Evans, a classmate of mine. We haven't seen each other since the beginning of the summer, so I stayed to talk awhile. Now, I've been officially invited out to dinner. Do I need to come home and do anything, or is everything all right with you? Can I go?" Suddenly he felt six years old, begging to go to Diagon Alley with Sirius.

Daniel Potter's voice was tired as he replied, "As long as you stay out of trouble. It's probably best that you ask your mother first."

Before James had time to ask to talk to his mother, Rhonda picked up the phone. "Hey, brat," she greeted fondly. "What do you need? Not in trouble, or anything?" 

Rolling his eyes, James explained the situation with Lily and her parents in better detail. When he was done talking, Rhonda sounded surprised. "Going out with the _parents_ on the first date, are we? A bit bold, isn't that?"

"We're not dating or anything—" James broke off and looked at the door suspiciously, half-expecting Petunia and her loathsome date to be hovering just outside. "I think they're about to leave, so is it all right with you if I go along? Please?"

"Well, if it's all right with your father, it's perfectly fine with me. Have a good time, dear, and do try to behave. Love you, kiddo."

"Love you, too, Mum. Thanks," James replied automatically. Feeling a bit awkward, he replaced the phone into its cradle, and walked out of the kitchen to find Lily engrossed in a magazine that had been sitting on a low table outside of the kitchen. He smiled as he noticed the title, _Modern Muggle_. Apparently, her parents had been doing some reading. "Well, my parents are fine with it. Are you sure I won't be a burden…?"

If Lily had an answer to that question, she never got to make it. Rose Evans bustled into the entrance hall, with her husband behind her. James was slowly beginning to learn that Rose Evans was the vivacious type, and Simon Evans just seemed to follow in his wife's footsteps with a sort of "What can you do about it?" air. "Did your parents say you could come, dear?" she asked James, smiling at him in a way that made him feel flustered.

James managed to reply that yes, both of his parents had been fine with it.

They made for an odd party of eight on the front lawn in their formal best. James and Lily stood a bit apart from the rest of the group as driving arrangements were discussed. Lily was watching her sister talk to Marge, trying not to look disgusted at the pair of them. Vernon and Simon were discussing the driving arrangements. Eustace was staring into space. James was counting how many different types of flowers there were in the garden. He would never get over Mrs. Evans's obsession with gardening, he feared.

Eustace would be taking Marge in his two-seater sports car, but Vernon was absolutely adamant on driving the elder Evanses in his own car. He was, after all, the one taking them all out to dinner. However, Mr. and Mrs. Evans were under the impression that James was a full and proper wizard (which he was, but his situation was hardly simple). Full and proper wizards didn't own cars.

"Why don't I just take Lily in my car and follow you?" James offered, finally figuring out exactly why there was a problem.

"You have a car?" Rose Evans asked, eyebrows arching. "I thought that wizar—"

She was cut off by a loud throat-clearing noise from Petunia's direction. Because Vernon, Marge, and Eustace were all looking at them very strangely, James swooped in. "No, really, it's not a problem. With my family the way it is, it's almost impossible for me not to have a car. Granted, I'm gone at school for most of the year, but during the summer, I provide a ferrying service for my younger sisters." He shrugged almost apologetically. "I really must tell you about Madeline sometime, but I think that can wait. Who's leading the caravan?"

It was arranged that Eustace would follow Vernon, and that James would bring up the rear. As Lily and James walked over to James's old BMW, she asked quietly, "You have a _car_? _You_?"

James held her door open for her and shrugged. "It's really not all that surprising. I've been acting like a Muggle for nine years now."

The inside of James's car would not have made anybody suspicious of his true heritage. He kept a pair of fuzzy dice (something Remus had picked up in America) hanging from the rear-view mirror, an air-freshener fastened to the dashboard, and the radio on the local new station. "The guys find me boring," he confessed as Lily looked about inquisitively. "Peter's dream is to attach a hula-dancer doll to the front of the hood, but the car will be Maddie's in December. I doubt she'll appreciate the sentiment."

"I can imagine," Lily agreed, and fell silent. Her face was turned partly away from James so that he could her profile against the window. After a long moment, she shifted slightly. "So, is Madeline a Squib? I've heard rumours, but haven't really ever thought to ask you—I mean, after all, it's your business…"

"Maddie is unable to manifest magic, with or without the aid of a wand, that's right." James shrugged and kept his eyes on the flashy tail-lights of Eustace's car. "It happens in every family—Muggles have witches or wizards, wizards have Squibs." Lily's eyes did not miss the fact that he flinched on the dreaded word. Still, he continued on as though nothing had happened. "A bit unfair, in the total prospect, but had wizards not married Muggles, we'd be a dead breed."

"You think it's unfair that Muggles have wizarding children?" Lily asked in a careful voice.

"It's unfair to the wizard or the witch that has to deal with both societies, yes. My family made the choice to live as Muggles willingly, and I can see your parents are sports about it. Still, there's always problems, as I'm sure you know."

"But what about Maddie? There are others like her—is she more privileged to _know_ about the magical world, or would she be better of being a full Muggle?" Lily was still wording her questions carefully, but it was obvious that she was fascinated with the subject.

"Maddie's not a bitter person, and we all love her." James shrugged without really knowing why. "Would she be better off without knowing us? No, I really don't think so—she's still got magic in her. What happens on the day that she accidentally meets up with, say, a wizard's mirror? They respond to her just like they respond to all wizards."

By the time they had pulled into the parking lot outside the restaurant, James and Lily were deep in a debate about which child grew up with more useful knowledge—the wizard-born of the Muggle-born. They had to cut their debate short, however, for Vernon, Eustace, and Marge had no suspicions that magic truly existed. Petunia sent the pair of them a warning look as she and Vernon led the way up to the ritzy front door of Shenanigan's. Indeed, waiting for them just outside were two large people that James could only assume were the elder Dursleys. Calvin and Delia Dursley were, unlike their children, rather pleasant.

Despite the Irish name, the restaurant definitely had no ethnicity behind it. Inside, James was surprised to find a darkened sort of waiting room, with smooth cream-coloured walls, and a reception's desk. The lady sitting behind it flashed them all a very large grin as she informed them that their table—in the Gold Room—was ready and waiting for them. James trailed at the end of the group as an equally sunny hostess led them through a large foyer filled with tables covered in white tablecloths. The Gold Room was apparently a dancing room, for there was a live band inside, and quite a few couples dotting a large dance floor. James noticed that nobody in the group eyed the floor apprehensively.

They were seated at one of the larger round tables in the Gold Room, and Vernon promptly ordered a very expensive bottle of wine for the entire table. James stopped the waitress politely on the way away from the table and asked if he could just have a glass of water. Other than Lily's inquisitive look, nobody bothered to question about his request. "My father has never been able to hold his drink well," he explained to Lily, and settled his napkin in his lap. "I think I'm unfortunate enough to have inherited that, as well. Even much more so with a best friend like Sirius." 

Dinner table conversation was polite, as it always was. James could not help but notice that he and Lily were positioned as far away from Vernon as manageably polite. Unfortunately, the seating arrangements meant that Lily was sitting next to the creepy Eustace Timms. James eyed the fellow young man throughout the meal, wondering if there was any way to break his nose "accidentally." He eventually ended up politely asking to switch seats with Lily, because Eustace "seemed like he might be the sort of fellow [James] wanted to get to know better."

When the waitress came to take their orders, Vernon ordered a round of Filet Mignonfor the entire table, and the elder Dursleys looked pleased. James shifted awkwardly in his seat—he didn't necessarily have a problem with Filet Mignon, but he really did prefer chicken. He reminded himself that he wasn't the one paying.

Calvin and Delia Dursley tried to include both James and Lily in the dinner conversation (how such decent people ended up with such horrible children, James was not sure). "What school do you attend?" had been the first question, to which Lily answered, "Hogwarts School of Academic Competency," off the top of her head. James was certainly impressed, but realised that she had probably been answering this question for six years in the same way.

"Do you play sports, James?" had been the question directed at him.

"James is more interested in the finer points of academia," Lily had answered for him, even though James was reputed for his Quidditch talent. "He's top of the class, and quite the genius in calculus." James had no idea what calculus was, but the Dursleys didn't need to know that. He gave them his best smile and focused on his water glass, hoping that they wouldn't question any of his knowledge on the subjected.

"Calculus? A fine thing to know, indeed. And what about you, missy?" Calvin Dursley asked Lily. "What's your best subject?"

Lily faltered quite visibly, but James had heard enough from Maddie to answer, "Oh, she's quite the brilliant one at Chemistry and, er, Shakespearean Literature." Now it was Lily's turn to give the Dursleys her best smile.

They were both saved by the arrival of the food.

Looking down at the perfectly done piece of meat, as well as the plate of appetising salad, James remembered that he was quite hungry, having skipped breakfast and lunch. Still, he was determined not to embarrass himself, so he took time to chew and even listen intently to the conversation between Simon Evans and Vernon Dursley. Sometime between his fifth and tenth bites, he glanced over at Lily and was alarmed to see that she was picking at her steak. Her salad was already gone, as well as the potatoes alongside the steak.

"What's the matter?" he asked in a low voice, leaning towards her so as not to interrupt any conversations.

She jumped. When she looked up, her green eyes were wide—almost as though she had been caught in the act. "I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't like the taste of meat," she explained in a whisper. "Chicken's all right, but not…_this_."

There really wasn't much else he could do. James passed his salad over, saying with a laugh that he didn't need to turn into a rabbit anyway. He would be honoured, he said with a faked laugh, if Lily took his salad away from him. Rose Evans noticed and gave him an approving look before turning back to her conversation with Delia Dursley and Petunia. Lily accepted the salad with a grateful smile, and the pair went back to eating their dinners silently.

Despite their casual exchange about the salad, James was beginning to feel frustrated. He had just discovered a new and fascinating person in Lily Evans, and simple conversation about the society they both existed in was forbidden. It was pretty rotten to Lily, and to Vernon, to keep such a secret from the Dursleys. However, neither the Evans nor the Dursleys would appreciate his intervention, so James stuck to his own speculations. He popped a piece of potato in his mouth and chewed while he thought of ways to discreetly bring up the Potions assignment. Before he could think of any, though, he was waylaid by Vernon Dursley, who stood up and looked about the table.

"Well, I see that you've all finished your dinners—my treat, of course. Now that Grunnings is off the ground and running perfectly well, I hope I will have the chance to host many dinners like this!" He chortled good-naturedly. "However, tonight is special. We—Petunia and I—have invited all of you here," and his eyes swept disapprovingly over James and Lily, making James bristle, "to announce that we have become engaged."

James blinked. Rose Evans promptly gasped and moved around the table to hug her eldest daughter, who beamed and pulled an engagement ring out from somewhere. Simon Evans looked vaguely upset for a moment, but congratulated the happy pair with every bit of enthusiasm as his wife. Eustace and Marge both clapped spiritedly, and Calvin Dursley chortled, "Here, here, boy!" It was evident that the Dursleys all knew about the engagement. The Evanses, however, were floored.

"Spanking good news, isn't it?" Eustace asked James, who merely nodded through his rather forced smile. Such awful people were allowed to marry and _breed_? There should be laws against that!

Lily played the part of a supportive sister as well, and hugged Petunia in a congratulatory manner. Petunia ignored her with a hurried and insincere, "Thanks," making James fight the urge to hex her to unmentionable places. 

James was forced to take a glass of wine for the round of toasting that followed, but he did little more than sip. Leaning over, he whispered, "Even butterbeer makes me nauseous. A couple of glasses of this stuff could knock me flat, I wouldn't doubt."

One red eyebrow arced up. "I'll have to remember that the next time I plan to get you drunk, then."

Petunia gave the pair a suspicious glare as James choked into his glass. He was immediately offered a napkin by the incredibly amused Lily, who chuckled behind her hand. She was being discreet about it, for anybody else would have thought she were hiding a cough.

"So," Vernon said, oblivious to the fact that Lily was still snickering, "would anybody favour dancing, or just dessert? I'm told that the entire Evans family is fond of dancing, and I'm sure even you could dust off your fox-trot, Dad."

"I'm sure I could," Calvin Dursley replied amiably. 

Glad to have the opportunity to talk to Lily about things of their world, James turned to ask her, but caught the look on Simon Evans's face. A brief understanding passed between the two of them. He was aware of Vernon saying, "I'll just have the first dance with my lovely fiancée, then."

"Save me a dance, please," he muttered to Lily, who looked at him with a very strange expression. In a louder voice, he asked, "I may not be the expert, but I know a few dance-steps myself. Would you care to dance, Mrs. Evans?"

__

And as he spoke

He spoke ordinary words

Oh, Though they did not feel

No, For I felt what I have not felt before

You'd swear those words could heal


	3. 03

A/N: Well, this has been sitting on my Hard Drive, as well. I've read OotP, but I've decided that it knocks them too out of character for the story to go back and have them hate each other. So here is a tasteful version that might have happened had James and Lily just ignored each other's existence before Sirius planned his little prank…

Disclaimer: Lily and James Potter, and most affiliated characters belong to the highly esteemed JK Rowling and her enterprise of confusing names like Bloomsbury and Warner Bros. Ordinary Day, I am pretty sure, belongs to the wonderfully talented Vanessa Carlton. This song has been a great inspiration, but I'm not inspired enough to try and make money off of either. All in good fun, I promise.

__

And as I looked up into those eyes

His vision borrows mine

And I know he's no stranger

For I feel I've held him for all of time

Ordinary Day 03

****

By Shadow Dragon

Inspired by "Ordinary Day" by Vanessa Carlton

Just after James escorted her mother to the dance floor, Lily felt a warm hand on her arm and smiled up to see her father standing over her. "Can I have this dance with the most beautiful redheaded daughter I have?" he asked.

Always "Daddy's Little Angel," Lily replied, "But, Dad, I'm your only redheaded daughter."

"That's irrelevant." Gallantly, he offered her his hand. They wove through the white-covered tables, smiling genially at the people dining. He bowed and Lily curtsied properly, glad that she remembered how to do that, and both were swept up into an elegant waltz. "Are you having a good time tonight, Lils?"

Lily managed a genuine smile for Petunia's sake. "The restaurant is wonderful," she said evasively. "And the salad is delicious." Before Simon could question her answer, she replied, "Are you having a good time, too?" 

Simon smiled to let her know that he wasn't fooled. "Getting better at avoiding the question, I see. Yes, I'm having a wonderful time, and I'm glad that Petunia has found herself such a nice and successful young man. I'm happy for her." They moved effortlessly through the dance crowd, reminiscent of all of the dance lessons Simon had given his daughters when they were younger. Simon and Rose had made quite a name for themselves in ballroom dancing before Petunia and Lily came around.

Now Lily's brow pursed as she looked up at her father. Their eyes were the same, and she had the same stubborn chin, but that was where the similarities ended. Petunia had inherited Simon's rather hook-shaped nose, and his blond hair. Of course, Simon's hair was thinning now, but he was not balding. It was hard to imagine Lily's father without his bright hair, although she knew those days were coming to an end.

"Vernon didn't ask you for your blessing, did he?" she asked suddenly, remembering her father's look at the news of Vernon and Petunia's engagement.

"Sometimes I feel incredibly transparent around you, Lils. When _did_ you become so perceptive?" Although the dance did not call for it, Simon twirled his daughter. "Anyway, don't bother about that. I'll just have to talk to Vernon. I actually wanted to ask you about this James fellow."

_Here it comes_, Lily thought to herself. How could she explain what had been going on that evening? James had always been just a boy at school, surrounded by his crazy friends. Another face in the crowd, really. They'd never even given each other so much as a second look. Sure, they talked, and occasionally helped each other with homework, but the way he'd looked when she had walked into the entrance hall…well, it was enough to make any girl feel flattered. His gentlemanly behavior all evening and the way he kept tripping over himself were endearing in its own right. Still, he was just James—Quidditch player, Transfiguration genius, a Marauder, and just another classmate.

Right?

"What about him, Dad?"

Simon, to Lily's surprise, laughed and tweaked her nose, like she was four again. Lily wriggled the offended object. "I've never heard you talk about him at all. He seems to be a nice enough kid."

All of the air rushed out of Lily in a relieved sigh. "It's really hard to explain. He's just another classmate—Uwila picked up his friend's rat today, and he was just dropping by to get it. Mum, however, roped him in to coming to dinner with us. You know how she is."

Simon nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I do believe that I know how she is." He spun Lily again. Again, she laughed and shook her head at his antics. "He seems _awfully_ interested in you though."

"Daaaad," Lily protested, smiling despite herself. Her father had always enjoyed teasing her on the subject of the male gender. Still, she was not sure how he would react when she finally did bring home a boyfriend. Hopefully, it would go a lot better than Vernon's first meeting with the Evans family. That catastrophe was long in the past, as one could tell, but it had nearly left scar marks in the walls. "If anything, it's the change of atmosphere. He's not used to seeing me without at least four books."

"Quite the little Head Girl we have in the family, eh?" Simon asked with just the slightest touch of pride in his voice. "My, Lils. You're finishing school, and 'Tunia's getting married. You just make your old man feel, well, _old_."

Lily's answer to this was an unladylike snort as they waltzed past Vernon and Petunia, flashing identical grins at them. "Dad, you're not getting old. Don't worry, I'm seventeen, not thirty. And before you start fretting, you're not even a grandfather yet."

"I'd better not be!"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about it on my part," Lily said emphatically. She had never told her parents that she had been properly kissed—at the age of fourteen—but it had never gone beyond that one kiss. Lily Evans had other priorities; romance could wait. "I don't think you have to worry about 'Tunia, either."

"I suppose you're right. You're both good kids." Simon looked thoughtful for a long moment before a heavy sigh escaped him. "Look, I know we haven't been very fair to you tonight. I know you would have preferred to stay home—I know how you and Vernon feel about each other…"

_When he remembers my name, that is_, she thought. Outwardly, she gave her best deceptive smile. "It's right that I'm here—it's not every day Petunia announces her engagement, after all. Just because I'm a witch doesn't mean I've broken all ties with family." Still, she did not mention the conversation she had had earlier with Petunia. Neither Simon nor Rose needed to know that she had tried to plead her way out of dinner. If Petunia was willing to keep that secret, so was she. "I'm happy for her, I really am."

"But…?" Simon prompted.

"How long do I have to keep my identity a secret from him?" The problem she had been holding back for weeks now rushed out in a tumble of words. "It's just…it's just not fair in the slightest. I know he's 'Tunia's fiancée, and it's her choice, but…well, I don't mean to sound like I'm whining, really. The situation's just difficult." She paused long enough to word her thoughts into a plausible argument. "Vernon's going to be around a long time, and it's okay to keep my secret if it's just me. But, Dad, I want to be _normal_. Normal for a wit—for my kind. And that means that someday I'll date with the possibility of marriage."

Simon looked slightly uneasy at the idea, as all fathers would, but Lily just plowed on. "I don't want to force him, whoever he is, to keep his identity secret as well. Because, by the looks of it, I'm going to end up marrying a wizard, and how will I keep _that_ secret at family gatherings? Wizards aren't known for their subtlety."

"What about James?" Simon asked, looking over at where James was talking to Rose. The pair was laughing at a joke he had just made.

"Are you insinuating that I marry James?" One red eyebrow arched up as Lily studied her father, feigning disbelief. Simon threw his head back and laughed at this. "James is different from most of the people I know. He has a younger sister who's not magical, and has lived like us since he was eight." Lily paused. "We call people like his sister Squibs. However, I don't think it's a nice name, and James doesn't like me using it."

"I didn't know it could exist the other way around," Simon commented. "So his sister is a bit like you—only exactly opposite?"

"Exactly. So James is used to things like this. And he's pretty smart, too. Not everybody is as tolerant as he is." She had refrained from telling her father about all the terrible people at school who called her a Mudblood and played dirty jokes on her because of her heritage. She had been dealing with those people fine for six years now—no need to botch things up at this point in the game and make her parents worry, even with threats of You-Know-Who on the rise.

"So I'm going to have a son-in-law that'll turn family members into newts?" Simon asked teasingly, although he didn't quite manage to hide his worried look.

Lily wrinkled her nose at him. "Dad, it's not like I'm going to marry Sirius Black or anything!"

The song ended just as they were waltzing past James and Rose. "Ah, there you are, son!" Simon called to James, who turned with an eyebrow raised. "What do you say we trade one beautiful Evans for another, eh?"

"_Dad_!" Lily protested under her breath, while Rose shook her head in amusement.

James looked amused as well. "Really, sir, I don't know which of us is getting the better end of the deal." Still, he relinquished Rose to her husband and bowed courteously to Lily. "With no offense to Mrs. Evans, I'm inclined to believe that I am." Lily silently cursed her red hair as a flush rose up to her cheeks, deepening when she realized what her parents would insinuate from such a gesture. However, neither of her parents seemed to notice, for James swept her off into a lively dance.

"I see you survived my mother," she said after a moment of silent dancing.

"'Survived' isn't what I'd call it, but yes, I did." While he did not possess the grace her father had gained through years of dancing, James had a livelier sort of finesse about him that made Lily smile despite herself. He was quite rangy, and short Lily had to crane her neck to look up at him. "Really, I quite like your mother. I can see where you got your charm."

"Keep smooth-talking me like that and they may be tempted to keep you around for good," Lily warned with a teasing smile.

James's expression told her that he thought that might not be a bad idea at all. In fact, his blue eyes were positively dancing on their own. "Does that mean I'll get to see you in more dresses like this?" Before Lily could answer, he spun her around and dipped her so quickly that she nearly lost her step. Only his steadying hand kept her on her feet.

"That isn't nice," she told him, wrinkling her nose.

"I rarely am," James responded in kind, pulling her up. Lily couldn't help but notice that he'd used the dip to pull them closer together; her heart hammered against her uvula. James appeared not to notice. "In fact, in the words of my sister, I'm a 'cruel, arrogant git.' Sirius just thinks I'm a prat, and that's probably the highest opinion of me that exists. Maybe that's why he's my closest mate." He tilted his head to the side as Lily muffled a giggle. "Your mother seems to have picked up the wrong opinion of me, as well. She thinks I'm a decent fellow."

"Mum's always off in her assessments," Lily told him consolingly. "My dad seems quite fond of you, too. He suggested that I marry you. Of course, he then asked if I was going to marry Sirius."

"Does he _want _to die of a coronary?" James coughed several times, nearly bumping into the couple behind them. "Although, I daresay that waking up to a pretty face like yours every morning wouldn't be such a bad fate."

Warning bells went off. James always flirted, but never this openly. And never with her. "Mr. Potter, are you flirting with me?"

"And what if I am?"

They moved together fluidly, as though neither had ever danced with another partner. It was like watching a great movement of art progress through its first stages—a little gawky at first, but slowly becoming smoother as time passed. It wasn't a practiced, clipped art. No, it was a wild glimpse into a mysterious new novelty.

"I'd be inclined to wonder what sort of charm would possibly have such an odd effect on you to make you notice me, that's all. I mean, what, six years of going to school together and just being Potter and Evans, we're suddenly on a first name basis and dancing together? You get yourself invited to family dinners and start acting all charming?" Lily's eyes weren't accusatory, just curious as they looked into his. "In fact, it kind of makes me wonder if I was suddenly made into the newest conquest, or something of such honor befitting the eternally busy schedule of James Potter."

James spun her around. "Men are slow, and I'm definitely not infallible in that area. In fact, I'm almost a prime example." His expression almost seemed to broadcast that he had been expecting this question. The dashing grin that James usually used to charm teachers out of extra homework flashed at her, nearly dazzling her. It struck her then that the incorrigible smile of his was probably one of the reasons James and his friends got away with so much

Despite his irritatingly effective grin, he made a good point. Eyebrow arched, she said at her driest, "If you're expecting me to argue with that, you'll be in for some very sore and painful disappointment."

James's feet faltered as he struggled to hold his laughter back. The pair nearly staggered into Petunia and Vernon, who had just stepped into an empty space beside theirs. Instead of apologizing, James just flashed the grin again and led Lily away. She could feel Petunia's glare on her shoulder blades, but ignored it. Unfazed by Vernon's equally murderous look, James continued, "Hardly. As for tonight, my invitation was clearly the fault of your mother, who has been not so subtly been pushing us together all evening—not that I mind—and I can't help but be charming around you. You've returned every witty statement I've made with the same ardor, need I remind you."

Once again, he was entirely correct, making it futile to argue with him. Defeated, she just asked, "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" James asked, although Lily was positive that he knew exactly what she was talking about. The left corner of his mouth was turned up in an isolated smirk, the struggle to remain nonchalant evident in that betraying move.

"Outtalk everybody except McGonagall—and I'm sure even _she's_ caved once or twice in the wake of that innocent look." Lily's look was once again perverse.

"Well, technically, that's not true. The look doesn't work on just everybody, you know." They unknowingly waltzed past Simon and Rose, and so did not catch the look of approval Rose was sending their way. "Maddie, for example, helped me create and later successfully export the look, so it obvious holds no power over her. Carrie's just a brat seeking my downfall."

"Sounds like all twelve-year-olds."

"Worse, actually." James's smile turned wry. "She plays a better Muggle and she knows it—and with Maddie and I the way we are, she's kind of the spoiled brat in the family." He shrugged easily. "Say, would you like to meet Maddie? She works at an ice cream stand not too far from here. Maybe we could leave early or something." He glanced over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of Simon Evans conversing with Calvin Dursley as the pair led their wives around the floor. "Then again, maybe we can wait a little while. Tell me, how do you _really_ feel about Quidditch? I've never seen you at a game."

*

James had never noticed how fascinating the range of expressions Lily used was. Her curious look was inquisitive, but never prying, and when she was confused, a line appeared between her eyebrows. It was a bit endearing, that line, for it appeared also when she was worried or angry. From now on, James would know to treat the crease as a warning that Lily's homeostasis was thrown off. Right now, he was just busy cataloguing the many captivating faces of Lily Evans. "Tell me," he blurted without thinking, "how do you _really_ feel about Quidditch?" He then had the thought to add, "I've never seen you at a game."

Lily tilted her head to the side, following his lead easily. Maddie had always protested to James's lead, even when they'd danced at Uncle Darryl's wedding the year before. Dancing with Maddie was a chore, but dancing with Lily—it made James grateful that nobody could read his thoughts. He had long stopped admiring just her expressions, after all.

"Maybe because I don't find it all that interesting," Lily replied quite dryly. "I've never been the athletic type myself. Nothing personal or anything, but Quidditch just doesn't interest me."

James's feet stopped moving on their own, and he stared at Lily Evans, a paradox in her own right. "You…you don't like _Quidditch_?" he squeaked, trying to keep his voice low. A nudge from Lily reminded him to start dancing again. "And you call yourself a Gryffindor?"

"James, calm down—it's just a sport!" Lily's grip tightened on his arm, forcing James to wince. "Keep it down. Eustace and Marge are right behind you."

There was not enough oxygen in the room. James was positively convinced that he was going to stop functioning from the pure lack of anything breathable. His head rang funnily, convincing him that he was quite close to passing out. "Just a sport?" he said in a strangled voice. He even croaked for good measure. "Just a sport?!"

The line appeared between Lily's eyebrows; for a minute, James thought she might be angry. But he quickly realized that she was quite worried. "James? You feeling all right?" she demanded in an undertone. "You're about to kneel over…"

"Just a sport?" was all James could manage coherently.

Now the worry turned to exasperation. It was astounding how close and how distant those two expressions could be. James had never really noticed, but now was not the time to dwell on that. "Oh, honestly! Some people have _lives_, you know!"

"Just a sport?!"

"If you don't stop saying that, I'm going to go dance with Eustace."

The thought of Lily dancing with that slimeball, with his hands all over her…James abruptly tightened his grip and tried to think clearly. "Sorry," he muttered. He looked at her from the corner of his eye and shook his head. "I just can't believe you don't like Quidditch. It's—it's like a lifestyle to me."

Although she was looking off to her left in exasperation, one of the red eyebrows went up and the corners of her lips turned skyward. "Obviously." When she finally met his gaze, she was more amused than exasperated. "I really haven't flown that much since first year, if you'll believe that. And you can relax a bit, you know—I think I've lost circulation in my hand."

Sheepishly, James did just that, but he did jump quite unbecomingly for a Marauder when a hand tapped him on the shoulder. "May I cut in?" The leering words belonged to Eustace Timms, who was looking quite lewdly in Lily's direction. Beside him, Marge was simpering quite nastily at James.

"Erm, no, sorry. Miss Evans and I were just leaving," James said abruptly, and grasped Lily's hand tightly. Without another word, he strode away from the astounded Eustace and Marge. Lily followed, her expression bewildered, as he led her to Simon and Rose. "Mr. Evans? Could I beg a favor?"

Simon raised an eyebrow at the young couple as he and Rose danced. "Certainly. What is it?"

"Well, the circumstances are rather odd. As it turns out, my younger sister works at an ice cream restaurant not too far from here, and I was wondering if you'd let me steal Lily so that I could introduce the two. She expressed interest in meeting Madeline."

"Madeline? That's the sister who—"

"Can't work magic, that's right," James interrupted, smiling apologetically. "I'd have her home early, if you're worried about Lily going out with me." He felt Lily tense at his choice of words, but she said nothing.

"That's a lovely idea!" Rose interrupted before Simon could say anything. "Lily really should be going out with people more her own age—and they've at least stayed until dessert. What do you think, dear?"

Simon certainly looked more skeptical, but if his wife approved, he was hardly going to stand in the way. Still, his voice was a bit gruff as he agreed—and mentioned that James should have Lily home by midnight, as they were both only seventeen. James wasted no time in hauling Lily from Shenanigan's. "We're going to visit Madeline?" Lily asked as they hit the brisk evening air.

"Yes—but first, we're going flying." James opened the boot of his BMW and pulled two Comet 180's from the compartment. "I don't think Peter'll mind too much if you borrowed his broom. If he does, I'll just mention that you saved hi—his rat from certain peril." James mentally hexed himself for nearly revealing the gang's secrets. Not even a first date and he was already blathering on as though he'd known Lily as intimately as he did the Marauders.

Lily frowned at the two broomsticks. "Flying in a dress?" she pointed out, indicating the scanty black number (it wasn't really scanty, but it showed quite a bit more skin than the bulky school robes did) she wore. "I don't think that'll work too well, James."

"Erm…" James pulled his wand from his pocket and frowned. They had just covered Transfiguration of different types of clothing, but he wasn't certain that Lily would trust him with Transfiguring something that she was actually wearing. "Want me to…?" he trailed off uncertainly.

Lily caught on quickly. "Sure," she agreed, spreading her arms to be a more presentable target. Luckily, they were around the corner, away from prying Muggle eyes. "But if I'm dressed like a wench after this, I'm hexing you into next week."

"I don't doubt it." Lily had an extensive library of hexes and curses stored inside her memory, so many that she almost put the Marauders to shame. Hoping he remembered the spell correctly, James aimed and muttered the incantation. A hazy cloud of blue smoke flared up all around Lily. Before he could try and see if his spell had worked correctly, Lily let out a shriek and shouted, "_Obscurus!_"

A black wall sprang up around her. "What happened?" James yelped, fearing the worst.

"You're incredibly skilled at Transfiguration, unfortunately." The amusement was palpable in her voice. "So skilled that the clothes you Transfigured folded up in front of me instead of on me. Remarkable, but I guess I'm too modest to walk around restaurant car parks in my drawers."

"Sorry." _You're just lucky I didn't have lingerie on the brain_, James told her silently, and turned away from the wall on principal. While he heard her mutter, "_Finite incantatem_," he didn't turn until she touched his shoulder. When he did turn, his jaw nearly dropped. The clothing had become a long-sleeved shirt with a rather low neckline (here he flushed) and a pair of trousers that fit her snugly, but were loose around her calves. "Well, either way, the clothing isn't any sort of food product, so the spell worked to some extent."

"Guess it did." Lily eyed her new outfit with some consternation. "Although I don't know why you made the neckline so low. It'll be awfully inconvenient—No, no, don't try to fix it, I'm all right. I was actually just teasing, you know." 

James tried not to look too bashful, something he wasn't positive he pulled off. At school he was the most collected and cool of the class, but this girl had the power to make him blush at every corner. How on earth had she managed that? "Sorry. Shall we go?"

She obviously had no idea how many electrical appliances her grin could light, for she flashed him the full wattage right then. For a minute, he was blinded. "Sure. You go first—I'll follow." She took some time mounting up; the broom obviously sensed whatever apprehension she felt towards flying in general. However, he had taught Carrie to fly, so he was a patient teacher. When she finally took to the sky, he nodded at the clouds and trusted her to follow.

He broke cloud cover, shivering only slightly. A minute later, Lily appeared a few feet away. All of the blood had drained from her face, making her paler than before. "I—I think Vernon might have seen us take off," she called as red hair whipped around her in a dizzying fashion.

James blinked away any comparisons between Lily and Aphrodite he had been making in his head. "What?" he hollered over the wind. "That windbag?"

Although she rolled her eyes at his word for Vernon, Lily nodded. "I guess now's a good a time as ever to fill him in on the whole situation," she shouted back. "Don't fancy telling him that I'm a witch after I've fallen off a broomstick, though!" Now she was looking ill as well as pale, making it obvious to see why she didn't fancy Quidditch all too much. She was afraid of heights! For a minute, she looked about to swoon from her broom, but James hastily flew to her side to prevent that from happening.

Inwardly, he was beating himself up and wondering why Lily hadn't put up more of a fight against flying. He had probably bullied her into it without knowing! James mentally kicked himself again when he noticed how heavily she was trembling. "It's not so bad!" he consoled. "Just trust the broom! Peter's is charmed so that you can't fall off!" That last part was a lie, but at least it made her relax somewhat. "Just enjoy it!"

"It's _bloody cold_!" she shot back, some of her ire rising now that she wasn't so worried about falling from the broom. "Why'd I let you talk me into this?"

"The Fearless Lily is afraid of something?" James teased instead of answering. That earned him a perverse look. He decided to push his luck. "Oh, c'mon, you know that there have been bets in the Common Room about what you're really afraid of. Professor Camden wouldn't let you near that Boggart for a reason." Now the look turned slightly angry, and James was afraid that he'd stepped too far over the sensible line.

"I ought to hex you." Her voice was low, but it still carried over the wind. "That's really none of your business—any of you."

James gave his blithest shrug, pretending not to hear her. They were descending, and she wasn't even noticing. His ploy was working quite well; she wouldn't look away from his face for fear of looking down. "Personally, I think it's spiders." 

"Spiders?" Lily gave a somewhat haughty laugh—or it would have been haughty had there not been a definite waver. "Please. Give me _some_ credit. I used to put those in 'Tunia's bed, after all."

Now James's eyebrows shot up. "_Really_?"

"Innocence is overrated." Lily was pointedly concentrating on his face, which was a safe place to look, as it happened to loom over her by several centimeters. That way, she couldn't see the ground. "I used to leave frogspawn everywhere for 'Tunia to find, too, now that I think about it. I used to be so mean to her. We're sisters—we're supposed to pick on each other."

"Is that why she treats you like she does?" James asked, not really trying to be blunt. The thought of Lily Evans pulling a prank or being mean to anybody was so novel that it nearly hurt his head. He didn't dare glance down for fear of filling Lily in on his ploy, but he figured they were only fifty feet off of the ground by then.

"Unfortunately, I didn't realize that she was genuinely frightened of all of it until it was too late," Lily said regretfully. "And by the time I did, she truly hated me. Nothing I say can change that." Her eyes were unfocused as she looked at his face, but James could definitely see tangible regret and remorse buried in the emerald depths. "But there's still time…"

An impregnable silence followed, ending only when James awkwardly cleared his throat. "Look down," he suggested.

Lily did—and promptly let out a shriek. They were hovering over a tranquil river, their shoes only centimeters from the skin of the water. A couple of centimeters lower and their knees would have been wet. Several fish had come to the surface to investigate. James peered at them. They were obviously magical fish, for the regular ones were all hidden. As James reached a hand down to see if he could pet one, a larger fish splashed at the pair, absolutely drenching Lily. When James sniggered, she turned a furious glare on him. "James Potter, you—you—! Oh, that's it, I'm going to hex you!"

"You'll have to catch me first!" James promised, and took off, nice shoes skimming low over the water. Lily hesitated, but the desire for revenge was greater than the fear of flying. Pressing herself flat against the handle, she threw everything she had into chasing her classmate. The night was dark enough to protect the two from the prying eyes of any Muggles that might be passing by, so James felt free to do a loop-de-loop.

James let out a yelp of surprise to see Lily so close on his tail. As he hit the bank, he tried to veer right, but Lily flattened herself even more and put on a burst of speed. Although she meant to grab the tail of his broom, she slipped and accidentally launched herself from the broom completely. Left with no other option, she careened directly into James and the two hit the ground in a pile of arms and legs that would take quite a while to disentangle. "Ow," was Lily's first reaction.

They had landed in quite an interesting predicament, just where land met water. Trained by years of playing Quidditch, James had instinctively curled up against the landing; Lily's body provided some complications. He had grabbed her around the waist, so they were quite close together, wrapped around each other in a way only an accident can manage. They were also half in the water, and both wet to the skin. So James landed half on his side and half on Lily, hugging her to his body with his face buried in her neck. He spit out several strands of red as they both just lay there, trying to blink away the shock. "Well, as much as I am attracted to you, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind," he said dryly.

Lily went red all the way down to the revealing neckline—which he could see at a much better angle, being wrapped around her as he was. "You are _not _helping," she told him acidly, trying to free her arm from under his body. "I thought you said you knew how to fly."

James didn't move; he was enjoying watching Lily struggle too much. "I did. So?"

"Well, if your reputation's anything to go by, you should know how to catch a girl when she falls off of her broom. Star Keeper and all."

Wondering if he was going to get slapped, and deciding to take the risk, James raised an eyebrow suggestively. "Maybe I just wanted to get you on the riverbank sometime," he suggested mildly. When her mouth dropped open, he used her shock to roll so that he was fully on top of her, effectively pinning her down.

"Get off of me!" He'd only seen that much pink on his sister's stuffed pink elephant. He cheered silently at making her blush so hard. Still, he did as she asked, freeing both of her arms. She sat up, shaking her head, and promptly slapped him. "Don't ever do that again."

"You turn carnation pink when you're embarrassed," James noted, making her turn even pinker. "Whoa. I didn't think that shade was possible on a human."

"You're going to get slapped again," Lily threatened, wringing out handfuls of hair.

James gave her his most affable grin as he removed his wet jacket and spelled it dry. When he was convinced it wasn't going to burst into flames, he made short work of draping it around Lily. "Of course I am. I'm surprised you haven't punched me yet, really." He stood up and hauled her to her feet. "C'mon, the restaurant's up this way a bit." She looked at their joined hands questioningly; James didn't look as though he was going to let go any time soon.

"Are you always this forthcoming?" she asked, not protesting. He stooped down to collect the Comet 180's, holding them in his free hand. "You kept blushing earlier, but now you're being positively randy. And I'm not even your girlfriend."

James gave her his most rakish grin. Exhilaration from the flight and from prolonged time spent in Lily's company was enough to make him bold. "I intend to rectify that," he told her, his grin widening at the shocked look she gave him, "even if it means wooing you."

__

Please come with me

See what I see

Touch the stars

For time will not sleep


	4. 04

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A/N: I know the book said that James' eyes were hazel, but in the chapters I posted before OotP, they were blue. They're staying blue—and so are Maddie's. I warn you: this chapter is fast-paced and contains family members, talk of the Owlery, Bob, and the bruising first kiss.

Disclaimer: All the characters you see here that you recognise belong to the wonderfully talented JK Rowling and Warner Bros. and all of those fun affiliates, like Bloomsbury and not me. Thanks.

Just a dream

Just an ordinary dream

As I wake in bed

And the boy

That ordinary boy

Was it all in my head?

Did he ask if I would come along?

It all seemed so real

Ordinary Day 04

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By Shadow Dragon

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Inspired by "Ordinary Day" by Vanessa Carlton

"I intend to rectify that—even if it means wooing you."

She was wet and cold despite the jacket, still jittery from the flight and the landing, and clutching the hand of one of the most popular boys at Hogwarts. Somehow, Lily had never imagined her luck, which had always been of the rather boring variety for a witch, would have landed her here. She also didn't imagine that her heart flipped over at hearing those words. "Oh?" she heard herself ask in that distant way that can only mean shock. "Isn't it a bit soon to know that?"

James' blue eyes lit on her face, always amused. "Love waits for no man," he scoffed. "You're so amazing that if I let the opportunity pass me by, I'd be a fool indeed."

Although she wanted to blush, his words had an entirely different effect. "Love, James? We've had two dances, dinner, two conversations, and a flight together," Lily pointed out, hating her logical side in the face of such joviality from him. "And the flight ended badly, if I might point out. For instance, flights shouldn't get you wet. And that's what I am—_wet_."

They were moving incredibly fast and growing more and more at ease around each other, Lily noticed. After all, this could maybe be considered a first date, and he had landed on top of her, had nearly seen her in her drawers (that _stupid_ spell! If it hadn't worked, Lily would have reamed him!), and had met her family. These were all things that Lily would have preferred a boyfriend to wait awhile before doing!

And the weirdest thing was that most of them had happened inadvertently.

"And muddy, which is a very endearing look on you," James continued her statement. "I'd prefer you wet and muddy to dry and clean in Hogwarts school robes."

"The school robes are perfectly fine," Lily pointed out, her brow crinkling in confusion. "Why do you say that, anyway? We're not at school."

"Thank Merlin. Robes are a bloody constriction. You girls tend to wear less when there's not a robe around, after all." James nodded not-too-subtly at her neckline, his grin nearly splitting his face when she gave an exasperated sigh. "It's quite a switch with wet clothing, let me tell you."

"You're a very terrible person, James Potter."

"Yes, but you like me, right?"

They had reached some sort of walking path around the river. Up ahead, Lily could see the identifying sheen of car park lights; James' sister's restaurant must be just past the tree line. "If I didn't," Lily said, switching her gaze back to James, "I wouldn't be holding your hand now, would I?"

She had only seen him grin so hard at the parties after all of the Quidditch games. Keeper or not, James was one of the most popular players on the Gryffindor team, and it was obvious that he was absolutely in love with the sport. His grin never faltered at those parties, even when his arm was wrapped in bandages from the healing wounds. She made a mental note to actually attend a game that year; if James loved the sport so much, it had to be at least the slightest bit intriguing, right? James himself certainly wasn't boring, but he did have a tendency to not stop smiling around her. That and he was always surprising her around every turn.

"So does this mean that you'll be my girlfriend, then?" James asked, breaking into her thoughts.

"Not very many places to go on dates at Hogwarts," Lily observed, purposely not answering him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his cantankerous look at not receiving a definite answer. "Where would you go?"

"Hogsmeade! The lake! If you're daring enough, the astronomy tower! Abandoned classrooms! The dungeons!" James waved the hand with the broomsticks around, naming place after place. "The Owlery!"

"Now, that's going a bit far," Lily laughed. "I'd settle for the dungeons, but I think I'd have to draw the line at the Owlery."

James' fingers tightened around hers, almost possessively. "So does that mean yes?" he asked eagerly.

"If you don't take me on a date to the Owlery!"

"Done!"

They fell into a silence then, both of them beaming crazily. The whole night had been a roller coaster of emotion; it felt like the argument with Petunia had been years before. Things had been awkward almost all night, but as the night wore on, they were more and more content to joke around each other and relax. Maybe she was being hasty, but she and James could always take things slowly later. It was just having a boyfriend, not committing to marriage, after all. Still, Lily's head felt jarred with disbelief; James would be her first official boyfriend. The rest were intrigues—flirts that didn't mean much.

"Knut for your thoughts?" James offered awhile later, once they were nearly to the trees.

Lily chewed her lower lip contemplatively. "I was just thinking about how quickly this is all going. If you'd had asked me yesterday if I would go out with you, I probably would have turned you down."

There was a hefty pause, and then James cracked, "Good. I wasn't nearly so charming yesterday. Forgot to take my medicine." His wink told Lily that he was joking. "I'm glad you said yes, though. I wouldn't give my salad to just any girl!"

"It's always about food, isn't it?" Lily shot back, showing that two could play that game. "You men always think with your stomachs."

James' response to that was a quaffing noise as they moved around tree trunks. "Call it a more centralised form of thinking, if you will," he said with a mischievous smirk, patting his stomach for good measure. "We men like to be good and centred in our lives, that's all."

The woods changed drastically to the back car park of an old-fashioned ice cream diner. Lily could see little more than a dumpster, a black back door, and a few cars parked along the subway-shaped building. On the side was a giant light-up sign that proclaimed, "BOB'S" in gargantuan pink and green letters. Lily had been to this particular restaurant several times as a child, so it was only natural that she blink and say, "Oh, Bob's. I've been here."

"The owner's a Squib," James informed her. "Bob is the only one that actually likes being called a Squib, so it's all right to use that word for him. C'mon." They went in the side entrance, which had a gaudily dressed ice cream cone tap-dancing across it. The dining room was empty of anybody except a brown-haired teen that was sweeping the floor.

He turned when they came in. "We're closed—oh, hey, James."

"Hey, Bryan. I think you forgot to lock that door." He jerked his thumb at the door they had just come through, as though it wasn't obvious. "Is Maddie still here?"

"Yeah—just go on back." Bryan stepped around them, smiling shyly at Lily as he did so, and began to fiddle with the door. James, meanwhile, led Lily past a turquoise counter and several ice-cream machines. Out of sight of the dining room was a hallway filled with vats and bins with different labels, and several other machines that obviously produced ice cream.

"Is Brian a Muggle or what?" Lily asked.

"Nah, he can't work magic, just like Maddie. Most of the people here can't. Bob's is sort of a place where they can learn to adapt to the Muggle world." James paused and flipped open a jar with his free hand. "Cherry?"

"Er—no, thanks." Lily wrinkled her nose as he popped a maraschino cherry into his mouth. "I'm allergic, actually."

"Filching cherries again, Jamie?" a new voice asked, and Lily half-turned to see a petite girl with black hair walking to join them. In most settings, she and James could have passed for twins—their eyes were the same colour, and they had the same chin and stubborn mouth. Madeline's features were quite a bit more feminine, and her hair was pulled into two braids—far neater than James' hair could ever get. She clucked her tongue at her brother now. "And why are you _wet_?"

"Crash-landed in the lake." James grinned and pretended to reach up to tousle Madeline's hair. She shrieked and ducked away in time. "I thought so. Hey, Maddie. This is my new girlfriend." That was all he said.

Madeline's eyes, so much like James turned on Lily with an expression of amused scrutiny. "Madeline Potter," she said, sticking out a hand. "Feel free to call me Maddie."

"Great," Lily said, shaking the proffered hand. "I'm Lily Evans, since this oaf here clearly doesn't think I deserve a name."

Although James pretended indignation, Maddie grinned. "I like you already." She looked about ready to say something else, but a polite "ahem" behind them made her grin harder and say, "Whoops—we're blocking up the way. C'mon, guys, let's go into the back room. Sorry, Bryan."

Bryan just smiled distantly and waited for them to clear the narrow hallway out. "He's so quiet," Maddie told James as she led the couple into a small, dimly lit room with a plastic table and an overflowing trash can. There were several magazines on the table, both wizarding and Muggle. "It's rather unnerving working with him."

"Being related to the Malfoys will do that to you." James shrugged and picked up the nearest magazine, _Quidditch Talk_. To Lily, he explained, "Bryan in there's actually a second cousin to Sirius, twice removed or something." He grinned over the top of the magazine at Maddie. "Did I tell you that he's staying with Remus for a couple of weeks?"

It appeared as though Maddie was as familiar with James' friends as she was, so the three had quite a few topics to talk about. Lily had several questions for James' vivacious younger sister, who seemed just as glad to answer them—and then to ask questions of Lily in return. James spent most of the hour that they talked leafing through _Quidditch Talk_, occasionally interspersing a comment here and there. Lily was quite surprised to find out that Maddie liked Quidditch about as much as she did—and that she absolutely adored football. Soon the two girls were conspiring to attend the next local game together, leaving James rolling his eyes and muttering, "Muggles."

A stocky man wandered into the back room, eyebrows raised in surprise. He was wearing the Bob's Ice Cream uniform—a lime-green shirt and black pants with a black and white chequered apron over them. The nametag on his chest proclaimed him to be Bob himself. "Maddie? You're still here? I'm about to shut down and lock up."

"Oh!" Rather startled, the younger Potter checked her watch and looked somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry, Bob—I got side-tracked. James and Lily here stopped by to see me."

Bob eyed James suspiciously. "You haven't been filching from the cherry stores again, have you?" he demanded, sizing the youth up.

James had the grace to look embarrassed as well. "Only one—which is quite a nice fare, considering that I'm toting your number one employee back and forth across town."

"Speaking of my number one employee," and Bob sent Maddie the same look he had just given James, "you're on my morning shift, so you'd better get home and get some sleep. You have five minutes to evacuate the building."

"I'll just get the car," James said quickly, and Disapparated on the spot.

Bob just shook his head and grumbled, "Good night, you two," at the girls, and disappeared off into the main part of the store once again.

"He's normally a picture of sunshine and daisies, worry you not," Maddie assured Lily as they exited the back room. She flicked the switch and gestured for Lily to lead the way. "My brother's a coward if he thinks Bob's ever going to do something to him. I guess we'll wait for him on the curb out front."

"How long have you worked here?" Lily asked curiously as they exited through the gaudily painted front doors. The traffic outside had thinned, given the late hour. Although her night felt like a whirlwind of different colours and emotions, the date had actually stretched over quite some time. The fact that the end of the day was near was evident in the tired lines of Maddie's face as she neatly folded up her own apron and the two sat on the curb.

"Two years or so. Bob let me start early." Maddie shook her head, sending black ringlets in front of her face. "I work after school—Dad's always at the Ministry, and Mum's an Auror, and I'm their only child at home now, so they pretty much let me do whatever I want. So—when did you start seeing James?"

Lily checked her watch, which had quite amazingly survived the trip on broomstick and the crash-landing on the shore. Maybe the ticking was feebler than before, but that was of little consequence. "About an hour ago," she decided. "He asked me on the way up to Bob's."

"As pretty as it can get back there, I think romance is lost on my dear brother." Maddie wrinkled her nose so like James that Lily held back a snort. "Last I'd heard, he was going to the Ministry with those oddball friends of his, and then he comes in to pick me up with a girlfriend. Crazy git. How on earth did that happen?"

"Most of it was inadvertent," Lily admitted, fighting back a happy-go-lucky grin. "He just showed up on my doorstep this evening, looking for Peter's rat. My owl picked him up by mistake—the rat, I mean." She shook her head; such an event seemed so far in the past now. Had it only been a couple of hours?

"He showed up on your doorstep and you end up going out on a date? Oh, I have to hear this one."

*

By the time Lily had fully explained the events of the evening (conveniently leaving out the clothing incident in the car park), James had arrived in the car. "I wasn't aware that you had passed your Apparation tests yet," Lily told James as she climbed into the front seat. Maddie sat in the middle of the backseat, leaning an elbow against each of the front seats.

"He hasn't," she accused, popping her older brother on the back of the head. "He just takes advantage of Dad's position in the Ministry. He's too bloody good a wizard to splinch himself, and if they see a Potter, they're just going to assume it's Dad."

"Don't bother to look surprised," James told Lily, pointing a finger at her as they pulled out of the car park. "I've been breaking school rules for years—it shouldn't surprise you that I do the same things for the Ministry laws, too."

"No," Lily said, looking admonishingly at him through the corner of her eye. "I daresay it doesn't." He looked somewhat sheepish, but one could tell he was entirely unapologetic about that part of his lifestyle. James Potter always set himself apart at Hogwarts as sort of a wild character, so it was far from shocking that he not be remorseful about living on the edge. Maybe, Lily thought as she just smiled and shook her head, that was where he collected so much appeal to the female population of Hogwarts. Was it her turn to play the good girl falling for the bad boy? 

No, she decided as she pulled a seatbelt on, James didn't fit the bad boy stereotype. Professor Dumbledore had named him head boy for a reason, and he had gained the respect of a lot of classmates in the past couple of years, both on and off the Quidditch pitch. Listening to him, he seemed to respect his parents (rare for a seventeen-year-old) and one could tell that he adored both of his sisters. He was a touch wild and dangerous, but his charismatic side more than made up for these. And he could be a perfect gentleman—when he wanted to be.

"Hey, drop me by Claire's?" Maddie asked, leaning forward. "She wanted to show me this new magazine she got. She'll give me a ride home so you don't have to worry about it."

"You sure?" James turned left into a suburb. "I thought you and Claire were fighting."

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Jamie, that was a _week_ ago. Observant big brother you are."

James pulled the BMW in front of an average house about two blocks into the suburb. "Claire isn't going to attack me the next time she sees me because of Lily, right?" he asked, feinting nervousness as Maddie clambered out of the car.

"I'll be sure to warn you if I see her coming," Maddie told her brother and winked at Lily. "Claire's liked James for ages. It was nice meeting you." And like a pixie, she disappeared across the lawn and seemed to reappear underneath the porch lamp. James waited only until a petite blonde opened the door and Maddie stepped inside before driving away.

"So did she tell you all of my sordid secrets or what?" James asked as he pulled away from the curb and rejoined the traffic. "I swear, she and Carrie have keeping a journal of every stupid thing I've ever done in their heads."

Lily tilted her head at him. "What makes you think we even got around to talking about you?" she asked coyly. "Maybe we were talking about somebody else. That Bryan fellow was rather cute." James spluttered into the steering wheel. "My, my, first date, and you've already got jealousy issues."

"Too right, I have." James glanced at the clock and groaned. "We should probably get you home—and Mum and Dad are going to flip if I don't come home with either Maddie or an alibi soon."

The scared look on Vernon's face from when she had taken flight right in front of him came unbidden into Lily's head. "Do I have to?" she wanted to whine. As much as she didn't want the evening to end, she knew that it had to—and Petunia would be waiting for her at home, ready to rip her end from end and possibly a lot worse.

As if reading her mind, James shrugged and said, "Don't worry about things with your sister. She's your sister, she'll have to forgive you sometime." Lily wasn't so sure about this—Petunia could bring up things that Lily had done wrong from when they were very young children—but she said nothing. "And it's better that that Vernon bloke knows, anyway. Easier for you, at least."

"Doesn't mean I'll see any less of the Beast," Lily muttered. "Petunia will probably be forced to ask both of us to be bridesmaids." She shuddered to herself.

"Well, if that Eustace guy bothers you—" James looked quite protective all of a sudden, inspiring the odd image of a caveman to come to the front of Lily's mind. 

"I think Eustace was a one-time thing. I can't imagine many being able to stand the Beast for longer than one date, if even that," Lily mused. "You don't need to worry about playing my protector, James. I assure you that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Still," James insisted, keeping his eyes on the road. He could turn from ebullient to moody very quickly, Lily noticed as she studied his profile in the light of the passing cars. Although she wouldn't really call his expression sulky, it was definitely edgy in a way that made her feel both annoyed and very comforted. After all of the years of receiving condescending flak from the Slytherins and Petunia, it was oddly alleviating to see such concern for her. Even if that meant dealing with a sulky young man.

"It's that turn up there," she said, pointing to change the conversation. "Really, it's amazing that you and I have lived in the same area all this time."

"We just moved in a couple years back while the mansion's up for repairs," James joked, turning the car easily onto the lane. "So—us living this close? Does this mean I can stop by any time I want to?"

Lily cracked a smile at his hopeful expression. "Not before nine in the morning—I like my sleep. And the parents won't appreciate it too much if you just come barging into my room at any old hour of the night."

"Okay, so no midnight serenades or breakfasts in bed, got it."

It was all too soon before the old BMW pulled up by the curb in front of Lily's house, and James was opening the car door for her like a proper gentleman. "C'mon," he told her, taking her hand. "I'll walk you up to the door, at least."

A glance at the driveway told Lily that her parents had yet to return from the after-dinner drinks, giving her at least a little time. "Did you want to come in?" she offered as they set off across the grass.

James cocked an eyebrow at her. "While your parents here. My, Miss Evans, the implications in that offer are too naughty for a humble swot like me to think about." But his grin was both teasing and tantalising at the same time. "But I think I'd better refuse this time—first date protocol aside, my parents _will _be wondering if I've abducted you and Carrie and fled to Majorca behind their backs. So I'd best get home to avert any national crises."

"My hero," Lily chuckled, trying not to let any of her disappointment show. "I'd better let you go, then. Can't stand in the way of a national crisis, after all."

That earned her a snort and a rather dazzling smile—which quickly returned to the normal mischievous grin. "You'll have to forgive me, but I've wanted to do this for a long time," James said in a rush, and practically jumped at her. Before Lily could duck and avoid his advance, he had both arms around her and was dipping her backwards. She lost her footing and would have fallen if he hadn't expected this much.

"James!" Lily shrieked. "Just _what_ do you think you're doing?"

"Hush, I saw it in a movie," James said, and kissed her. She could have later described it as majestic, heavenly, amazing, spine tingling, thrilling…but really, when asked later, she would just describe it as "short." Which it was, although both participants wouldn't have minded elongating the kiss. Unfortunately, destiny—as well as gravity—had other ideas in mind.

"OOF!"

For the second time that night, they landed in an impossible tangle of arms and legs. "Well, _that_ botched up our first kiss," James said decidedly. "Are you all right?"

Lily glowered at him. "A simple peck on the cheek would have worked, you know."

"Ah, but this way is so much more unforgettable." James practically shone with his own light as he unwound himself from Lily and reached down to pull her up with him. "However, if you insist…" Quickly, he leaned in and pecked her on the cheek. "I suppose I shall say good night and go, then?"

"Probably would be best," Lily agreed, and gave him a small smile to show that she was not angry—just bruised. "Good night, James."

"Good night, Lily. I suspect our relationship will be quite an interesting experience." With that said, James tucked his hands into his pockets and set off across the lawn, whistling the fight song of the Pride of Portree. Lily watched him go for a minute and let herself into the house, not bothering to turn any lights on as she headed up to her room. Distantly, she heard the rumble of a motor and then the sound of a car pulling away from the curb and into traffic.

When her parents came home twenty minutes later, they were quite surprised to find their youngest daughter lying placidly on her bed, completely absorbed in writing in her journal as though nothing at all had happened that evening. Rose Evans paused on the threshold to Lily's room for a full minute before observing, "You're quite lucky—Vernon convinced himself that he was seeing things and soon had himself believing that he had seen a bird take off and not you on a broomstick."

"So my secret lives on?" Lily asked, looking up from her journal.

"Not quite. Your father made Petunia consent to telling him about your witchcraft before the wedding." Rose did not look quite happy about this; of her two parents, Lily knew that Rose was the stronger advocator of keeping Lily's magic a secret from Vernon and most of their family. Lily understood this, but she couldn't help but be at least a little resentful. "You will probably owe him an explanation."

"Great." Lily returned to writing in her journal.

"And I want you to know that Petunia doesn't hate you. She's going through a rough time in her life right now, and…"

"Mum," Lily interrupted, looking up from her notes and focusing the intense green gaze on her mother. She had inherited the very same gaze from her father. "I know Petunia doesn't hate me—but if she forgives me or not is her business. She's my sister, so I hope she will, but I can't change her. And as of right now, I'm not going to try." She dropped her head again, secretly pleased that she had finally said what had been bothering her. Although she had been nurturing these feelings for months, James' comments about her relationship with Petunia had thrown them into sharp light. Now Lily felt as though a weight had been lifted from her. "I don't want to talk about it any more, either." 

"Very well." Rose's lips thinned, but she knew when not to press an issue. Instead, she tried a different tack. "So, was my hunch correct about James? How was your evening with him?" Rose asked now, not ready to let the conversation die despite her daughter's disinterest.

Lily paused her pen and looked up at her mother. Already, she had written three very detailed pages about the events happening around the surprising James Potter, and her pen would probably go on for three more. He was such a fresh personality that she felt momentarily blinded and intrigued by him at the same time. In one short evening, he had presented so many sides to her that she knew it would take her years to unravel all of it. "I don't know," she told her mother now. "I have a feeling that my night with James was just an ordinary day when it comes to him."

And with a shrug, she was contented to let it be that way. 

__

But as I looked to the door

I saw that boy

Standing there with a deal

He said, Take my hand

Live while you can

Don't you see your dreams lie

In the palm of your hand?

A/N the Second: So I wasn't intending this story to get this long. A chapter or two maybe. And then it turned into four. I guess my point was trying to write a story where Lily and James didn't hate each other because of some stupid incident in first year—and making them real people while I was at it. Although OoTP came halfway through it and destroyed the characterisations in here, I like to think that I succeeded anyway. Thank you to anybody and everybody who reviewed or even read this far. You've all been so wonderful.


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